mummy brown

noun2

1. •
   The colour of this pigment, a variable brown intermediate between raw umber and burnt umber.

   • Mummy Browns, from the crushings of Egyptian corpses, for the mortally ill and melancholy. — 2001
2. •
   (historical) A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc.

   • Mummy brown.—The bituminous substance found in and enveloping Egyptian mummies; it may be considered partly animal and partly bituminous matter. — 1842