Lamp black is one of the oldest and most widely used black pigments in human history, produced by collecting and processing the fine carbon rich soot deposited on a cool surface by the incomplete combustion of oils, resins, or other carbon based fuels. The resulting pigment consists almost entirely of pure amorphous carbon particles of extremely fine particle size, giving it an intense, deep, and uniform black colour with a slight bluish or cool undertone that distinguishes it from other black pigments.
The production of lamp black dates back thousands of years, with evidence of its use as a pigment in cave paintings, manuscript inks, and decorative arts found across many ancient cultures. The name derives directly from the method of its production - the collection of soot from the flames of oil burning lamps, which was scraped from the surfaces above the flame and processed into a usable pigment form. In more industrial production methods, the burning of heavier oils, tar, or other hydrocarbon materials in controlled conditions with a restricted air supply produces large quantities of fine carbon soot that is collected and refined into lamp black pigment.
In the context of photography and photographic printmaking, lamp black has relevance as a pigment used in certain historic and alternative photographic printing processes, as well as in the production of inks, carbon tissues, and pigment based materials used in processes such as carbon printing and photogravure. Carbon printing, one of the most archivally stable of all photographic printing processes, relies on the exceptional permanence and lightfastness of carbon pigment - of which lamp black is a primary example - to produce prints of outstanding longevity that are highly resistant to fading, discolouration, and deterioration over time.
Lamp black continues to be used today as an artist's pigment in oil paints, watercolours, and printing inks, valued for its deep, cool toned blackness, excellent covering power, and outstanding resistance to fading when exposed to light. Its archival stability and chemical inertness make it one of the most permanent and reliable black pigments available to artists and printmakers.