\"Gloss Japan Red\"

Daniel_3

Does anyone have pictures of a radiator painted with this color offered by not only A&R co. but also some other radiator companies?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

No pictures, but here's a source for Japan Colors

Japan colors are rather thick, pigment rich and flat.

I [believe] that the so-called "Japan Finishes" common on old heating registers, hardware and it looks like radiators, were glossy natural varnishes rather heavily tinted with Japan colors. A top coat of glossy varnish may have been used after the Japan color for a "deeper" gloss.

I also have a suspicion that the "red" may well have been Venetian Red (a rich red-brown) as it is a relatively inexpensive, colorfast, natural pigment (pure hematite iron oxide). Other red pigments--still somewhat true today--were either extremely expensive or transitory in nature.

Daniel_3

I have seen some rads painted in that venetian red which came to mind when I saw the can of it pictured in the 1897 catalog for A&R. It's a nice color imho.