Lakes (originally prepared from lac, whence the name) are pigments or colours formed by precipitating animal or vegetable colouring matters from their solutions chiefly with alumina or oxide of tin. Cochineal and madder lakes are the only ones used by artists. The former are prepared with Cochineal (q.v.) and alumina, and according to their shade of red, or purple red, are known as carmine, crimson lake, scarlet lake, purple lake, and Florentine lake. These were formerly much employed for landscape-work by water-colour painters, and are still in request for flower-painting, but they have not much stability. The madder pigments of this kind, called rose madder or madder lake and madder carmine, are on the other hand quite permanent, both as water-colours and oil-colours, and are much prized by artists. There are several yellow lakes made, but they are fugitive, and consequently but little used.
Paper-stainers and decorators use several pink lakes prepared by saturating a strong decoction of Brazil-wood and other dye-woods with chalk, starch, and a little alum. To these such names as Venetian, Florence, and Berlin lakes are applied. The two best lakes used by decorators are crimson and morone lakes.