2020 Essays

Rouge Clair: Glass or Paint?

Shi, Yuanxie; Chang, Amy

This essay explores a material called rouge clair, which is discussed in three separate entries in Ms. Fr. 640 on fols. 6r, 40v, and 124v. The term usually refers to a vitreous substance used for enameling, but the author-practitioner’s instructions complicate this definition: they include its use as a “cold enamel” that could be painted on metal without the use of heat. By reconstructing these entries and testing the application of the rouge clair produced, we conclude that for the author-practitioner, rouge clair did not necessarily refer to a specific substance (vitreous enamel), but rather to an optical effect that could be produced by different materials.