Â鶹Éç

Available for over a year

What stories are hiding among the paints and pigments in an art supplies shop? L Cornelissen & Son has been supplying artists since the 19th century. Based in a little shop near the British Museum, it's a Victorian throwback - all dark wood, high shelves and creaky floorboards. Jars of pigment 'glint like jewels in the semi-dark' (as Derek Jarman put it), full of vibrant powders with mysterious names and long, strange histories - Lapis Lazuli, Rose Madder, Naples Yellow, Potters Pink, Egyptian Blue, Caput Mortuum. Cathy FitzGerald holes up in the shop for a week to hear its customers' stories. What are they buying? What are they making? Original music by Stephen Coates Presented and produced by Cathy FitzGerald A White Stiletto production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4, first broadcast in 2017.