bister

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

bister
    n 1: a water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling
         wood soot [syn: {bister}, {bistre}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Bister \Bis"ter\, Bistre \Bis"tre\, n. [F. bistre a color made
   of soot; of unknown origin. Cf., however, LG. biester
   frowning, dark, ugly.] (Paint.)
   A dark brown pigment extracted from the soot of wood.
   [1913 Webster]