This piece of indigo, pulverized and then solidified, which was found preserved in a tin box in a home at l'Islet was used to make a blue paint mixed with white lead and turpentine. Imported by the East Indian Company around 1700, indigo had to compete with lignite blue, produced in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century at Bouxwiller. In Quebec, the inhabitants used the terms "ultramarine blue" and "Prussian blue" without knowing how to differentiate between them.
Other colours were popular as well. It seems that certain colours were used for particular pieces of furniture: buffets, blue; chairs and tables, red; armoires, blue-green. Hemlock bark, yellow and red ochre, in addition to Prussian or ultramarine blue, served as bases for these mixtures. Colours were combined to give a polychromatic effect. Sometimes little of the original colour remains, and collectors 5 prize pieces which have not been completely stripped. Because of the intricate carving on the doors, this armoire retains most of its original blue-green paint.
