Artists' paint used to be stored in fragile pig bladders (literally, a bladder from a pig) tied up with string. To get at the pigment, the artist would prick the bladder with a pin and use the paint as it bled out. Unfortunately, this would ruin any remaining paint in the bladder, and the whole package would have to be discarded after perforation no matter how little of the paint was actually used. Another problem was transport. Most artists confined their work to their studio, as their bladders (more specifically, their pig bladders) would frequently burst if they tried to move their painting supplies to a remote location. Further, because the paint still quickly dried out even when in the pig pigment pouch, the artist would have to mix up a fresh batch of each color every time he stood in front of the easel.
In 1841, South Carolina artist John G. Rand, while living in London, got tired of wallowing in porcine excretory systems and developed the tin paint tube with cap. This invention allowed the paint to be stored for long periods of time, even after the tube had been opened. The tubes could easily be transported. And, the artist could have available at any time a wide range of colors.
French artists initially derided Rand's new-fangled invention, but they quickly and hypocritically got on the bandwagon when they found that they could head out into the countryside and render vivid portraits of water lilies, haystacks, and Polynesian women. In fact, Rand is arguably the true father of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as probably very few examples of those styles would have occurred without his nifty metal tubes.
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