A natural, brown earth pigment containing iron hydroxides and manganese dioxide. The name umber was originally used for the deposits found near the Italian city of Umbria. High quality deposits were also found in Cyprus and were sold as Cyprus umber and Turkey umber. Raw, or unprocessed, umber is a pale yellowish brown. Burnt umber is made by roasting the raw earth to convert the iron hydroxides to iron oxides which produces a dark brown pigment with a reddish tone. Both pigments have good hiding power but burnt umber is more transparent than raw umber. Umber is a permanent pigment that is used with both oil and watercolour paints. It is listed among the additional pigments used for colouring stucco marble in the nineteenth century. Synonyms: raw umber; burnt umber; Cyprus umber; Turkey umber; Turkey brown; umbra; terre d'ombre (Fr.); chestnut brown; jacaranda brown, euchrome; Sicilian brown; Vandyke umber; Caledonian brown; Cappagh brown Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2000); Wittenburg (1999). [J. Cassar, R. de Angelis]