Patent drawing headed "J. Rand, Metal Rolls for Paint, No. 2,252, Patented Sep. 11, 1841." Figures 1 and 2: a flat tin tube sealed at both ends, then with its emptied end rolled up. Figure 3: a hinged clamp for sealing tube ends. Figures 4 and 5: the tube with a screw cap, full and with its end rolled up. Signed by the inventor, John Rand, and two witnesses.

History · Two Paints

Five Centuries of Oil

For more than five hundred years, oil has been the paint most painters reached for.

Its early story is told in Pigments and Materials. What matters here is one change in the 1800s: the paint tube, patented by John Rand in 1841.

  • Before tubes, paint was kept in animal bladders that couldn't be resealed once pricked.
  • A screw-cap tin tube kept paint fresh and easy to carry outdoors.
  • Painters already worked outdoors before tubes; many outdoor sketches were finished in the studio.

Image: US Patent and Trademark Office (via Google Patents) · Public domain

3 / 38