A red iron oxide powder used as an artists pigment. Indian red is a brick red colour. It was originally the name for a red earth pigment imported from the Persian Gulf and India. In the early 18th century, a synthetic Indian red composed of pure ferric oxide was made from steel mill wastes. It is a dense, opaque, permanent pigment. It is listed among the pigments used for colouring stucco marble in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Synonyms: India red; Venetian red; red iron oxide; Pigment Red 101; colcothar; Pompeian red; light red; roofers red; iron saffron. Wittenburg (1999); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2000). [J. Cassar, R. de Angelis]