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]WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
bister n 1: a water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling wood soot [syn: bister, bistre]