True asphaltum as described by Noah Webster in 1828 is a “smooth, hard, brittle, black or brown substance, which breaks with a polish, melts easily when heated, and when pure, burns without leaving any ashes. A composition of asphalt, lamp black and oil is used for drawing black figures on dialplates.”
Asphaltum paint was used in the early days of shelf clock production for the backing of gilded sections on reverse glass paintings. It is also the paint used to color tin can weights when they were first made. 
It is a brilliant black amber color, almost with a metallic shine to it when applied. 
This is a bottle of raw organic asphaltum. Historically, this material was ground to a powder, mixed with some lamp black, Japan dryer, turpentine, and linseed oil to make a liquid paint which leaves no brush strokes when settled. It is up to the purchaser to determine their own recipe for true asphaltum or Japan paint. There is enough pure asphaltum in this bottle for many bottles of paint. A very, very small amount goes a long way! 
Again, this is a dry container of raw true asphaltum.