Elements of the art of dyeing

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SECTION I. Page

OF THS 6BNEBAL PR0PBBTIB8 OF COLOURING SUBSTANCES.

Chap. I. Of the Theory of Coloors, and of the distinctiTe Properties of Colouring Particles . . . . • .

II. OfMordants ......

III. Of Astringents in general, and particularly of the Gallic Acid and

Tannin ......

IV. Of the action of different substances, particularly of Air and Light

on Colours ......

v. Recapitulation of the Theory laid down in this Section

19 40

SECTION IL

OF THE DIFFERENCES WHICH DISTINGUISH WOOL, SILK, COTTON, AND LINEN, (flax,) and of the OPERATIONS BT WHICH THESE SUBSTANCES ARB OISP08BD TO RECEIVE DTES.

Chap. II. Of the Preparation of Chlorine Liquor

III. Of Leys ...

IV. Of the Immersions in the Chlorine Liquor V. Of the Washings

VI. Of the other Operations of Bleaching YII. Number and Order of the Operations VIII. Of the different Preparations of Bleaching Liquor IX. Of the other Uses of Chlorine

1. Preliminary Maceration of the Fibres

2. Of the Leys and Immersions in Chlorine

3. Bath of Sulphuric Acid

4. Soaping ....

5. To give Pliancy to Hemp-Cotton

6. To give the Appearance of ordinary Cotton to Hemp-Cotton

SECTION IV.

OF DTBINO OPERATIONS IN GENERAL.

Chap. I. Of Dye-houses and the Manipulations of the Art of Dyeing 162

III. Of the Means of ascertaining the Goodness of a Colour (Dye) . 174

Instructions concerning the Debouilli (chemical trials) on Wool

and Woollen Cloths . . . . . .179

SECTION V.

OT THE CHEMICAL AGENTS EMPLOYED IN DYEING.

Chap. I. Of the Acids . . . . . .188

1. Of Sulphuric Acid . . . . . 191

2. Of Nitric or Nitrous Acid . . . . .194

3. Of Muriatic Acid ...... 200

4. Of Aqua Regia, or Nitro-muriatic Acid . . 205

5. Of Bitartrate and Binoxalate of Potash, and of Acetic Acid . 210 II. Of Alum, or the Sulphate of Alumina .... 215

III. Of the Sulphate, and some other Combinations of Iron . . 224

IV. Of Sulphate of Copper . . .229

V. Of Verdigris, or the Acetate of Copper . . . .231

VI. Of the Acetate of Lead, or Salt of Saturn .235

VII. Of the Fixed Alkalies . .... 237

1. Of Potash . . . . . ib.

VIII. Of Soap .... 245

IX. Of Sulphur . . .... 248

X. Of Waters . . . . .250

CONTENTS.

XV

SECOND PART.

OF THE PROCESSES OF ART.

SECTION I.

OF BLACK.

Chap. I. Of the Processes for Dyeing Black

II. Observations on the Processes for Dyeing Black . III. Of Grey .....

Section II. Of Blue

Chap. I. Of Indigo ....

II. Of Pastel and Woad

III. Of Dyeing Blue with Indigo and Pastel Vat IV. Of Saxon Blue .

V. Of Dyeing Blue by means of Pmssiate of Iron

273 286 290 303 307

Section III. Of Red

Chap. I. Of Madder ....

II. Of the Processes used in Dyeing with Madder Process of Adrianople, or Turkey Red

III. Of Cochineal

IV. Of Dyeing Scarlet V. Of the Crimson Dye

VI. Of Kermes VII. Of Lac, or Gum Lac VIII. Of Archil IX. OfCarthamus X. OfBrazU Wood .

XI. Of Logwood

. 313

. 320

. 327

. 342

. 347

. 354

. 359

. 363

. 365

. 369

. 377

. 384

Section IV, Of Yellow

Chap. I. Of Weld .

II. Of Fustic {Bois Jaune)

III. Of Quercitron

IV. Of Annotto (Roucou)

388 393 395 398

V. Of Saw-wort (Sarretie) Serraiula Tinctoriay and several other

Articles capable of Dyeing Yellow .... 402

XVI CONTENTS.

SECTION V. Page

Chap. I. Of Walnut Peels .• . .409

II. Of Sumach, and lome other Snbstances capable of affording a Dun

Section VI. Of Compound Colours

Chap. I. Of the Mixture of Blue and Yellow, or Green .419

II. Of the Mixture of Red and Blue . .428

III. Of the Mixture of Red and Yellow . . .438

IV. Of the Colours resulting from the Mixture of Black with other

Colours, and of Brownings . .440

/AT

OF

THE ART OF DYEING.

The desire of attracting public admiration may be observed even in the least civilized state of society. Among the means of distinction which are eagerly laid hold of, the glare of colours is one of the most obvious. Savages assume an imposing aspect, by staining their skins, or wearing feathers, stones, and shells, with gaudy colours. The Gaulish women gave themselves, on fostiTals, an olive-brown complexion, by means of woad ; and those of high rank were no doubt jealous of this distinction.

The art of dyeing, therefore, has unquestionably a very anient origin ; for when nature afforded colouring substances of easy application, there might arise among people but slightly civiKzed, methods of dyeing which have been sought after by polished nations. Thus the Gauls prepared some dyes which were not disdained by the Romans. But for its enlargement and perfection, the art required to follow the progress of manufiictures and luxury.

The Egyptians, according to Pliny,* had discovered a mode of- dyeing analogous to that of our printed calicoes. Cloths, impregnated probably with different mordants, were plunged in a bath, in which they assumed different colours. He alludes to the employment of these mordants in the following passage : Candida vela fostquam attrivere, illinuntur non cohribus^ xed colorem sorbentibus medicamentis. It may, however, be preramed, that manufactures possessed little activity among a people

B where the authority of the priesthood prohibited by law every change in even the most indifferent customs.

It is to Greece that our attention turns, when we wish to ascertain the progress which the human mind had made in antiquity. Here, however, we . find a vast difference between the fine arts,* and the useful arts, or the arts of luxury ; a difference of which the cause is obvious. Public opinion set these arts at an immense distance from each other : glory was associated, with the former, but the latter were confounded with servile labours.

This distinction was, in some measure, well founded. The painter, the statuary, the architect, stamped their genius on their productions. Their arts did not each require a long series of efforts for its advancement ; nor did it enrich itself slowly by the casualties and experiments of ages. Imagination could suddenly overleap the boundaries of time ; and the masterpieces which appeared in rapid succession among the Greeks were destined to become the admiration of posterity.

Yet this people, so ingenious, so sensitive, and so fertile in great men, suffered themselves to be seduced in the distribution of their esteem by tastes often frivolous. He who won a victory in wrestling, pugilism, or the race, obtained crowns, and enjoyed the greatest honours ; but the useful arts were degraded even in the eyes of their philosophers.

Here we perceive one of the most striking characters which distinguish the ancients from the moderns. . The Greek philosophers, occupied especially in speculations which might ensure to them the homage of a people so prone to enthusiasm, regarded the useful arts as unworthy of their attention. This contempt was inherited by the Romans. Pliny, in speaking of dyeing, avowedly neglects to describe operations which do not belong to a liberal art. Nee tingendi rationem omisissemus^ 8% unquam ea liberalium artium fuisset.

Ever since philosophy has taken observation for a guide, and, abandoning the illusions of systems, has adhered to the study of the phenomena of nature, and of the real properties to which they owe their origin, it has followed the chain of the numerous wonders which it has analyzed, in subserviency to the welfare

* Poetical arts would be here a juster expression ; for statuary is surely an art of luxury. — T.

of society. It has recognized in manufacturing industry, as well as in commerce, the source of the prosperity of the nation, the germ of a great population, the principal support of agriculture. But it was the Academy of Sciences of Paris which first sought to spread the light of science over all the arts, which first formed the project of publishing their description, and which, in the midst of prohibitory ordinances, arrived at this truth, — That national industry was to be augmented and enlightened by a free communication of the processes which it employed ; and that the sacrifices which it might make by this publicity, are well recompensed by the advantages thence derived. This project was extended to all the objects of our studies, by the Encyclopaedia, the mightiest monument which philosophy and reason have ever raised.

The art of dyeing must have felt feebly, we perceive, the influence of learning among the Greeks. Yet the activity of genius has something sympathetic, and industry multiplies her trials when solicited by luxury. Let us observe, then, to what point refinement had raised it in the prosperous days of Greece ; let us consult the picture of it traced by Barthelemy.

** A great proportion of the citizens of Athens passed their time in the difierent tribunals, and .received a salary of three oboli, that is, fourpence halfpenny a-day. The average price of the setier (twelve bushels of Paris) of com, whose value is the^east uncertain standard of comparison, was thirteen French liVres, (10s. lOd. English), that is, a little more than the half of the medium price vrith us. A citizen of Athens could thus, vrith the daily pay annexed to the most important functions of the republic, purchase a measure of corn, which would at present cost sevenpence halfpenny English. In order to form an idea, therefore, not indeed of the public magnificence, nor of that of some individuals, but of the ease and luxury of the ordinary class of citizens, we must represent to ourselves what they would be at Paris, if the salary of the public functionaries was fifteen 90US (sevenpence halfpenny) a-day.

*' Many of. them (the Athenians) went barefooted. The common people were clad in cloth which had received no dye, and which could therefore be re-whitened. The rich preferred coloured clothes :* they held in considerable estimation those

* Voyage de jeune Anacharsis.

B 2 which had been dyed scarlet, by means of small reddish grains, and in still higher those of a purple dye."

Silk, which is subjected to the most varied processes of dyeing, comes originally from China. It was, say the Chinese annals, the wife of the emperor Hoang-ti who first engaged in spinning the cocoons which are naturally found on trees. Silk was carried thereafter into Hindostan, and thence into Persia, Greece, and Rome. But it arrived here at a very late period. Some have concluded, from a verse in the Georgics of Virgil,* that its use was known at Rome in the time of Augustus. We find less doubtful indications in Pliny. Silk bore still so high a price in the time of the emperor Justinian, that it was sold for its weight of gold.f Lastly, some monks brought from India to Constantinople eggs of the silk-worm, and established there the method of rearing them, and of spinning the down of their cocoons. J

It appears to have been in the time of the Crusades that silkworms were introduced into Italy.

The art of dyeing webs seems to have been imknown in Greece before Alexander's invasion of India. Pliny relates, that the sails of his vessels were there dyed of difierent colours. Hence the Greeks possibly borrowed this art from the Indians.

India is indeed the nursery of that knowledge and those arts which were subsequently difi'used and improved among other nations. Fortunate accidents might be readily multiplied in a country rich in natural productions ; which requires little labour to supply the subsistence of its inhabitants ; and whose popula;- tion was promoted by the profusion of nature, and the simplicity of manners, ere the tyranny of those conquerors who have now succeeded to it had committed its ravages ; but religious prejudices, and the unalterable division of castes, soon shackled industry. The arts have been thenceforward stationary in India : and it would appear, that in the time of Alexander, dyeing had attained nearly the same state as at present, in regard to cotton goods ; for silk was still unknown there, or at least very scarce.

The beautiful colours which we observe on the Indian goods,

to which the name of Perses was originally given, because it was through the trade of Persia that they first reached us, might lead to the belief that the art of dyeing was there pushed to a, great degree of perfection. But we learn from the description which Beaulieu gave, at the request of Dufay, of operations performed in his presence,* that the processes of the Indians are so complicated, tedious, and imperfect, that they would be impracticable elsewhere, from the difierence in the price of labour. European manufactures soon surpassed them in correctness of design, variety of shade, and simplicity of manipulation. If they have not yet rivalled the vivacity of two or three of their colours, this must be ascribed merely to the superiority of some colouring substances, or perhaps to the very length and multiplicity of the operations. i

We may therefore conclude, that the art of dyeing was less extended and less improved among the ancients than among the modems ; but the former possessed a dye which has been lost or neglected, and which was the most eagerly desired object of luxury, — this was purple. Its processes have, however, been better preserved in historical monuments, than those of any other colours.

We shall not dwell on the tales with which it has been attempted to embellish the origin of the purple dye. There is a great probability of the discovery having been made at Tyre, and that it contributed much to the opulence of this celebrated city.

The liquor which was employed to dye the purple, was derived from two principal species of shells. The larger bore the name of the purple; and the other was a species of whelk. Both were subdivided into several varieties. ^ They were further distinguished by the greater or less beauty of colour which they could afibrd, and according to the coasts where the fishing was carried on.

The colouring juice of the purples is contained in a vessel which is found in the throat. Only one drop of liquid was obtained from each shell-fish. The whelks were bruised : These contained a very small quantity of a red liquor, verging on black, {Nigricantia Rosce. — Plin.)

* "Traits sur lea toiles peintes," in which we observe the manner of fabricating printed calicoeB in India and in Europe. The opinion given in the text is confirmed by the more exact detail found in Bancroft ** on Permanent Colours."

b HISTORICAL SUMMARY.

When they had collected a certain quantity of the colouring liquor, they added to it a proportion of sea-salt. They then macerated for three days ; after which five times as much water was added. This mixture was kept at a moderate heat, separating from time to time the animal matters which rose to the surface. These operations lasted ten days. They now tried, with a little white wool, if the liquid had taken the proper hue. The stuflFwas subjected to difierent preparations before it was dyed. Some passed it through lime-water ; others prepared it with a species oi fucusy which served, like some of our astringents, to render the colour more durable. We do not know precisely the marine plant to which the ancients gave the name of ftActis ; but it was of such extensive use in their dye-works, that the word became a generic name for all kinds of colouring substances, (dye-stuffs.) Pileur d'Apligny conjectures, that it might be a species of archil or roceUa^ which is found on the coasts of Candia;* others, again, prepared the cloth with alkanet.

The juice of the whelk did not yield of itself a permanent colour; but it increased the brilliancy of the colour of the other shell-fish. The purple of Tyre was made in two operations. They commenced by dyeing with the juice of the purpvra ; after this they gave it a second dye with the juice of the whelk, whence Pliny calls it purpura dibapha^ In other processes, the liquors of two species of shell-fish were mingled ; thus, for 110 pounds of wool, 440 pounds of the liquor of the whelk, and 220 pounds of that of the purpura were taken. An amethyst colour was thereby obtained. Sometimes a body or basis was given with the coccus^ which is our kermes^ and after that the dye was completed with the juice of the purpura. Finally, they combined some of the preceding methods, and thereby obtained a great variety of purple hues, which were distinguished by different names. That of Tyre possessed, according to Pliny, the colour of coagulated blood; the amethyst purple had that of the stone so called ; another species resembled violet, &c.f

* Esaai sup les moyens de perfectionner Tart de la teinture.

i* Those who wish to acquire more extensive information on the purple of the ancients

may consult among the moderns the following works : — ^*' Fabii Colomni lyncsei purpura;"

de I'academie, 1711;*' and especially a learned work by M. Bischoff, entitled, "Versuche

It seems that some kinds of purple preserved their colour a very long time : Plutarch relates, in the life of Alexander, that the Greeks found in the treasury of the king of Persia a great quantity of purple, of which the beauty was not affected though it was 190 years old.

The very small quantity of liquor which was extracted from each shell, and the length of the dyeing process, gave to the purple so high a price, that, in the time of Augustus, a pound of wool dyed in Tyrian purple could not be had for less than 1000 denarii, about 700 French livres, (£28 sterling.)

The priests, who sought always to take advantage of what might make an impression on the people, attributed, in early times, a sacred character to the purple. It was a colour pleasing to the Deity, and which must be reserved for his worship. Although the purple has been lost for a long time, the pride of the name has been preserved in our sacerdotal hierarchy.

Purple was almost every where an attribute of exalted birth, and of dignities. It served as a decoration to the first magistrates of Rome. But the luxury which was afterwards carried to excess in this capital of the world, rendered the use of it common to opulent individuals, until the emperors reserved to themselves the privilege of wearing it. It soon became the symbol of their inauguration. They appointed officers who were charged with the superintendence of this dye in the manufactories, where it was prepared for them alone, principally in Phoenicia. The punishment of death was decreed against all those who might have the audacity to wear purple, even should they cover it with another dye.

The penalty annexed to this whimsical kind of high treason, was undoubtedly the cause which made the art of dyeing purple disappear, first in the West, and much later in the East, where this art still existed in vigour in the eleventh century.

There was extracted from coccus, now known under the name of kermes, (an account of which may be seen Sect. iii. Part 2,) a dye, which was hardly less esteemed than the purple, and which was sometimes associated with it, as we have already mentioned. PUny relates, that it was employed for the robes of emperors. The name of scarlet was usually given to it ; but it was sometimes confounded \vith purple.

It was only in the age of Alexander and his successors.

according to Pliny, that the Greeks sought to give some perfection to black, blue, yellow, and green (dyes.)

Among the Romans, newly jnaxried women wore in the early times a yellow veil. This colour was appropriated to matrons.

In the games of the circus, four parties were distinguished by their colours : green, color prasintis ; orange, rufatus ; ash-colour, venetus ; and white*

We may judge of the qualities of these colours by the substances which they employed. As Bischoff has. made very extensive researches on this subject, T shall give, after him, an enumeration of the ingredients which entered into the art of dyeing in those times, independently of the coccus and the purple shell-fish.

1. Alum; but we may see in the first part of this work, (Sect. V.) that very probably the ancients were not acquainted with our alum in ajstate of purity.

, 2. Alkanet. Suidas relates, that the substance served likewise as a pigment for women.

3. The blood of birds, which was employed by the Jews.

4. The fucus. That of Crete was preferred. It was usually employed to give a basis or ground to good colours.

5. Broom.

6. Violet. The Gauls prepared from it a colour which resembled one species of purple.

7. Lotus medicago arborea. Snail trefoil, (Luzerne en'arbre.) The bark served for dyeing skins, and the root was employed in dyeing wool.

8. The bark of the walnut tree and the rind of the nut.

9. Madder. It is not known whether the madder of the ancients be the same plant as ours, or some other root of the same family.

10. Woad. (Glastum.) This plant was certainly employed by the ancients ; but it is doubtful if they gave it the same preparation as we do.

They made use of the sulphate of iron, and of that of copper, for dyeing black, especially skins. Nut-galls, of which the most valued came from Comagena, served as the astringent. They used, as a substitute for it, the seeds contained in the pods of an acacia peculiar to Egypt. They also employed the bark of pomegranate and of some other astringents.*

* AmeilhoD, M^m. de Tlnstit. litter, et beaux arts, torn. iii.

- Although the ancients may have used some substances of which no memorial is preserved, it is easy to see that the acquisitions which we have made, especially since the discovery of America, give us a great superiority with regard to several colours. But is the regret frequently expressed for the loss of the purple well founded ? Are we not able to rival the beauty of this highly-famed colour ?

The shell-fish which furnished the colouring liquor of the purple, exist probably in as great abundance as formerly. They have been sufficiently characterized to enable us to recognize them. In fact, Thomas Gage relates that there was found near Nicoya, a small Spanish town of South America, shell-fish possessed of all the properties described by Pliny and the other ancient writers. It appears, even, that some use was made of these shell-fish for dying cotton on the coasts of Guayaquil and Guatimala.* Cole discovered some of them in 1686 on the English coasts ; Plumier found a species of them at the Antilles ; Reaumur made several experiments on the buccinum which he found on the coasts of Peru; Duhamel made also several on the colouring juice of the shell-fish which bears the name of purpura, which he found in abundance on the coasts of Provence. He observed that this juice assumes a purple colour only by the action of light, as Reaumur had already remarked respecting the colouring juice of the buccinum ; that this juice, at first white, assumes a yellowish-green colour, which deepens, verging on blue ; that, finally, it is seen to redden, and in less than five minutes to become of a very vivid deep purple colour.f Now, the purple of the ancients possessed the*se characters.

Moreover, we have a very detailed description of the manner in which the fishing was conducted of the shell-fish which served for purple, in a work of an eye-witness, Eudocia Macrembolitissa, daughter of the emperor Constantine VIII., who lived in the eleventh century.J

Our indifference, therefore, in procuring the purple, and in

t Mem. de TAcad. 1736.

X Eudocia Macrembolitissa was married to a Constantine, and after his death to Romanas III., who was elected emperor in 1068. Her work is to be found Ida collection published by M. d'Ansede Villoison, under the title of" Anccdota Graeca fe regi& parisiensi et h yenetft S. Marci bibliotliecis deprompta, T. i. 1781.^* profiting by the researches which some moderns have successfully made, probably proceeds from our having acquired more beautiful and less costly colours. Many learned men are of this opinion.*

In fact, the kermes afforded a colour which was esteemed by the ancients as almost equal to the purple (purpura,) and which contributed to that distinguished by the name of color hysginus. Now, we understand the management of the kermes in probably a more advantageous manner than the ancients did, because we possess a pure alum, which disposes the stuff to receive a finer and more permanent colour; and yet our dyers have been obliged to renounce its use almost entirely, notwithstanding the solidity of its colour, because it cannot, in point of beauty, bear a comparison with the colours now produced from cochineal.

Supposing the slight difference which may exist between the colour of the kermes, and that of the purple of Tyre, to be compensated by the advantage which we derive from our alum, we might regard this purple, which was so precious that the Caesars reserved it to themselves under penalty of death, to be similar to that blood-red which we observe in ancient tapestries, for the production of which kermes was employed.

The supposition, that the colour which we derive from kermes is preferable to that which the ancients obtained from it can be supported by the testimony even of Pliny ; for he insinuates that it had little permanence; but the colour which is now given by means of kennes, to wool prepared with alum, is of the greatest durability.

Soap, the discovery of which is ascribed to the Gauls, appears to have had no other use among the ancients than that of a pomade for cleansing the hair, or for staining it with any colours which they chose to mix with it.f This substance is, however, of such utility, that it must give us a superiority in bleaching, and in some parts of dyeing. They supplied its use, in the scouring of wool and whitening of cloth, by a plant which Pliny calls radicular which was termed struthion by the Greeks, and which some consider as our saponaria; as also by another plant, which Pliny designates as a species of poppy. Homer

* Bischoff, Versuche, &c. Gognet, de Torigine dcs IoIb, arts, et des sciences, 2 partie,

liv. ii.

f Goguet, Ibid, premiere partie, liv. ii. AmeilhoD, M^m. de Tlnstit. torn. ii.

paints the ppncess Nausica and her waiting-maids treading their dresses with their feet in ditches in order to bleach them. From other evidence we learn that wood ashes were mingled with them ; and also, that some earthy boles were employed.

We have acquired from the New World several dye-stuffii, cochineal, Brazil wood, logwood, annotta. We owe the superiority of our dyes especially to the preparation of alum and to the solution of tin, which lends such lustre to several colouring substances. Silk, which has become so common with us, and which takes such lively and brilliant dyes ; the rapid movements of commerce, which place the productions of China and the Indies within the enjoyment of even the common people ; an active and enlightened industry, stimulated by the rivalship of the different nations of Europe, who endeavour to counterbalance their instruments of power ; all these circumstances set an immense interval between the luxuries most familiar to us, and those of the most opulent individuals among the ancients. Europe, however, before acquiring this superiority, experienced all the devastations of barbarism.

In the fifth century the arts became extinct in the West ; soon thereafter, almost every trace of intelligence, reason, humanity, and industry, disappeared. A few decayed arts, indeed, were preserved merely in Italy. Muratori quotes a manuscript of the eighth century,* in which we find some description of dyes, chiefly for skins, and some processes of the other arts ; but the Latin, which is almost unintelligible, and some chasms in the writing, prevent us firom forming a just idea of these processes.f

The arts were better preserved in the East, whence were derived, till the twelfth century, the objects of luxury which a few of the great were able to procure. During the Crusades, the Venetians reared their power on the frenzy of the age: their fleets took charge of the victualling of our fatal emigrations; their commerce became enriched ; the arts were established among them, enlightened by the manufactures of the Greeks ; and from this city they were propagated into the other parts

f I shall quote literally a description of alum, which seems to prove, that only aluminous stalactites, or a volcanic earth impregnated with alum, was used. *' Db Alumbn. Alitmbn autem metallum, est terra floriens de erilarin. Eritarin terra est alba, facilis ad pisandum/^ of Italy. In 1338, 200 manufacturers were employed in Florence, who fabricated, it was said, from 70,000 to 80,000 pieces of cloth, forming an object of commerce worth 1,200,000 golden crowns.

The discovery of rocella was accidentally made by a merchant of Florence, about the year 1300. Having remarked that urine gave a fine colour to a species of moss, he made experiments, and learned to prepare archil. He kept this discovery secret for a long time. His descendants, of whom a branch still remains, according to the report of Dominique Manni, have retained the name of Muccelaiy ftom the Spanish word oreigliaf which that species of moss bore.