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Promoting Natural & Cultural History
This fifth observation from North America has been inspired from a visit last summer at the most interesting Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. The aim with this essay is to give some comparable views of dyeing methods, from before as well as after the introduction of the synthetic dyes by discussing and illustrating a few gems from its museum and research library. Textile dyeing is overall a complex process, but the craft also has a number of separate functions/limitations – as sign of wealth and status, long living local traditions, amateur or specialist dyers perspectives, water and light resistance considerations or just the desire for a beautiful colour.
The basic chemical structure of synthetic indigo was worked out by the German chemist Adolf von Baeyer in 1865, but difficulties arose when synthesising the “new indigo” and therefore the substance was first fully developed around 1880. During the coming decades it became a widespread dye substance, gradually making the lucrative indigo plantations in numerous countries unprofitable. The synthesised form of the popular blue dye became cheaper as well as quicker to produce and Jenny Balfour-Paul describes in her book Indigo (pp 81-87), that a smaller number of chemical producers in the 1890s – initially German, Swiss and French – dominated the market.
Additionally the illustrated box of synthetic indigo dye and its informative printed text enlightening the history of demand, transportation and the awakening production of this dye in U.S. for jeans and other garments/fabrics. The exhibition states in this matter: ‘To satisfy customers’ perennial preference for the color blue. American dyers eagerly bought the synthetic indigo carried by the submarine Deutschland. But they soon discovered that dissolving the highly compressed German dye cakes was nearly impossible, forcing them to buy from the U.S. companies just starting indigo manufacture.’
Some further search into the history of this submarine, reviles that Deutschland was built in 1916 as a blockade-breaking German merchant submarine, and acted as one of seven freighters of this type carrying cargo to the U.S during the First World War. This particular submarine made two journeys only as a cargo submarine (1916), whereof the piece of indigo illustrated here was carried on the second. However, it was primarily on the first journey as dye stuff was carried in any substantial quantities (125 tons), probably due to the problems cited above with highly compressed indigo.
For a brief study of natural dyes I visited Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library (Rare Books) at the same Foundation. This library is holding a selection of pre-1800 dye books, predominately European. One such example is The Art of Dying Wool, Silk and Cotton by Jean Hellot – printed in London 1789. The book is translated from the French and each part of the book by a different translator, not an entirely unusual way for an 18th century dye book. Translations from or to German, French, Swedish, English etc are something experienced several times when studying early dye books in both Sweden and England. Meaning that many recipes are repeated over and over again with some variations, additionally the “borrowing” of images from one book to another was not uncommon!
This book printed 1789 is comprised of more than 500 pages including very detailed descriptions/recipes, divided into three sections clearly separated due to the various methods for wool, silk and cotton & linen thread. Several descriptions assist each dye plant, insect bodies or mollusc shells, based on knowledge with its roots in the 17th century or even earlier. These dyeing instructions were primarily intended for the professional dyers, while most recipes are complex in various degrees and can not be carried out without one or several imported dye stuffs.
A selection of recipes follow to demonstrate some of the great variations – especially for red, blue and green colours – included in the 1789 publication.
It is always a privilege and joy to handle a rare 18th century publication, but this interesting and informative book can also be found in full text online – from one example kept in North Carolina State University.
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