Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) was the most brilliant red available for over 3,000 years — the only vivid, opaque red-orange pigment with real staying power before the modern era. Mined primarily in Almadén, Spain.

Cinnabar is the red of power and danger in their most concentrated form — it is toxic, it is brilliant, it is found in the earth where mercury pools. Ancient users knew its danger and valued it anyway. It is the colour that will not be ignored.

Used in Chinese imperial lacquerware (朱漆) for 2000+ years — the brilliant red of imperial objects. Roman Pompeian wall paintings used cinnabar for their most important rooms. The tomb of the Red Queen at Palenque was covered in cinnabar powder. Vermeer's Milkmaid shows characteristic cinnabar in the red tablecloth.