Messrs Reeves have presented him with a handsome paint-box, which he cannot refuse, although he doesn't want it. It contains a colour they call "pure orange", which looks like scarlet madder. It also includes indigo, in which he delights, but has always avoided. He notes that his old friend and master
Robert-Fleury used the pigment to underpaint drapery. He asks advice and wants to drop in to see him, his collection and experiments at his quarters in Burlington House.