All About the Dyes in Antique Rugs
06-29-2010 / By:
All About the Dyes in Antique Rugs Besides the age and style of the antique rug, one can truly learn to appreciate the colors present. Modern consumers often forget that artificial dyes have only been around since the 20th Century.
Today one worries about getting an exact shade of paint, for the walls, to match the flower in a favorite throw pillow. When antique rugs started being created and designed, the colors available were those one could make oneself with vegetation or bugs. Any child who has rubbed a dandelion flower on something or eaten a blueberry has learned that color can be transferred. The magic of dyeing though is learning how to make that color permanent.
Fabric doesn't always keep the same color when heat is applied and oxygen can also affect the process. This is chemistry in action. Yellow spices like turmeric and saffron, that were responsible for dying food, also found their place in fiber baths. It was not known to be as durable a color though and would fade. One wonders though if it was as much a matter or fading as the color getting lost in the slow tracking of dirt.
The madder root from a climbing vine would produce suitable red until a red bug was found on cactuses that produced a more vivid color. The root's dying history though is well document and was used around the world. It was first used in India, but it was also used to make the red coats famously worn by the British Army.
Indigo would be used in successive dips to produce a very durable and deep blue. This dye was special for being a fermented dye that would change when as it contacted with oxygen. It was produced from the leaves of a plant grown in the tropics. Production and transportation of this dye was part of what drove the exploration of the oceans for new routes to India. Land space that accounts for more than 2 times that of Luxembourg was dedicated to growing this crop before synthetic versions could be created.
Antique rugs that wanted to display grapes or wine had to produce a suitable shade of violet . Purple was also the color of royalty. It was produced from the excretions of a shellfish. Not being easy to find or extract in large quantities, added to its valuable. Some indigos could have a purple quality and it could be mixed with a red dye. These colors would fade differently and change over time. Lightly dyed versions of the purples would produce most of the pink hues as well.
Dark browns and blacks could be produced from bark and other dark hued vegetation. One imagines that when the color was not right it might simply have been dyed over to make a brown or black that could be used in the border or background of a design. Henna, a flowering plant which is well known for creating non-permanent tattoos, can also be used to produce orange dyes. All these amazing fibers would have to be dyed in vast quantities to produce a work of art. Today's shoppers can take advantage of such a wide variety of colors. One needs to remember and appreciate the wide lengths makers of antique rugs and other goods had to go through to produce the vivid colors seen in their work.
Today one worries about getting an exact shade of paint, for the walls, to match the flower in a favorite throw pillow. When antique rugs started being created and designed, the colors available were those one could make oneself with vegetation or bugs. Any child who has rubbed a dandelion flower on something or eaten a blueberry has learned that color can be transferred. The magic of dyeing though is learning how to make that color permanent.
Fabric doesn't always keep the same color when heat is applied and oxygen can also affect the process. This is chemistry in action. Yellow spices like turmeric and saffron, that were responsible for dying food, also found their place in fiber baths. It was not known to be as durable a color though and would fade. One wonders though if it was as much a matter or fading as the color getting lost in the slow tracking of dirt.
The madder root from a climbing vine would produce suitable red until a red bug was found on cactuses that produced a more vivid color. The root's dying history though is well document and was used around the world. It was first used in India, but it was also used to make the red coats famously worn by the British Army.
Indigo would be used in successive dips to produce a very durable and deep blue. This dye was special for being a fermented dye that would change when as it contacted with oxygen. It was produced from the leaves of a plant grown in the tropics. Production and transportation of this dye was part of what drove the exploration of the oceans for new routes to India. Land space that accounts for more than 2 times that of Luxembourg was dedicated to growing this crop before synthetic versions could be created.
Antique rugs that wanted to display grapes or wine had to produce a suitable shade of violet . Purple was also the color of royalty. It was produced from the excretions of a shellfish. Not being easy to find or extract in large quantities, added to its valuable. Some indigos could have a purple quality and it could be mixed with a red dye. These colors would fade differently and change over time. Lightly dyed versions of the purples would produce most of the pink hues as well.
Dark browns and blacks could be produced from bark and other dark hued vegetation. One imagines that when the color was not right it might simply have been dyed over to make a brown or black that could be used in the border or background of a design. Henna, a flowering plant which is well known for creating non-permanent tattoos, can also be used to produce orange dyes. All these amazing fibers would have to be dyed in vast quantities to produce a work of art. Today's shoppers can take advantage of such a wide variety of colors. One needs to remember and appreciate the wide lengths makers of antique rugs and other goods had to go through to produce the vivid colors seen in their work.
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