OCCURRENCES OF GREEN EARTH PIGMENT ON NORTHWEST COAST FIRST NATIONS PAINTED OBJECTS

An analytical study of First Nations painted objects from the Northwest Coast showed that green earth (celadonite) was used as a green pigment by Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian artists. Green earth appears to have been used less frequently by Heiltsuk and Kwakwaka wakw artists and was not found on Coast Salish or Nuu-chah-nulth objects. Microscopical samples of green paint from 82 Northwest Coast objects, as well as several pigment sources and mineral specimens, were analysed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy or X-ray diffraction. Green earth was the most frequently identified green pigment, found in approximately 40% of the samples.