Chrome orange

Chrome orange, also known as chrome red, is a range of orange pigments which consists of lead(II) chromate and lead(II) oxide. (PbCrO₄ and PbO). Chrome orange can be made by precipitating lead(II) together with chromate in a basic solution or by treating chrome yellow with lye. It is toxic both from the contained lead and from the contained hexavalent chromium.

It was used in the past as a pigment in paints, but is now restricted or illegal because of the drive to reduce or remove lead and its compounds from paints.

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Chrome orange

Chrome orange was used extensively in Frederic Leighton's Flaming June (1895; Museo de Arte de Ponce).

Sources

• Kühn, H. and Curran, M., Chrome Yellow and Other Chromate Pigments, in Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Vol. 1, L. Feller, Ed., Cambridge University Press, London 1986, p. 208 – 211.
• Chrome Orange at ColourLex