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Artisans and Artists in Dyeing and Printing

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Colouring Textiles

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science ((BSPS,volume 217))

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Abstract

Broad historical studies of colour are often multidisciplinary, and include the perspectives of anthropologists and art historians who emphasize the importance of cultural and aesthetic problems.2 If we consider natural dyestuffs within the general framework of colour, there are conspicuous links between aesthetic values and design on the one hand and textile fibres and dyes on the other.3 So any assessment of the technological value of dyed and printed textiles should include an analysis of a coloured cloth as an artistic object.4 It is no coincidence that natural dyestuffs enjoy a prominent place in the history of decorative arts. Valuable collections of dyed and printed textiles are preserved in museums and published in illustrated catalogues which underline the importance of the interaction between art, fashion, design and technology.5

After a design is sketched, it is examined and studied in various ways before being engraved... it generally happens that only a very small proportion of the designs which are made are afterwards engraved for printing. A calico printer of Manchester... stated that in the year 1838 he had between two and three thousand patterns designed, of which only about five hundred were selected for engraving.1

George Dodd (1844)

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Notes

  1. George Dodd, The Textile Manufactures of Great Britain. Charles Knight. London 1844, p. 56.

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  39. There were nine categories: 1: Horizontal stripes; 2. Block diaper or chequer; 3. Matting diaper very various in form; 4. Square line diaper; 5. Floriated square diaper; 6. Round diaper formed by contiguous circles; 7. The diagonal branch; 8. The net; 9. Powdering on the lines of the diagonal branch or of the net. William Morris, “Some Hints on Pattern Designing”. A Lecture Delivered by William Morris at the Working Men’s College. London, 10 December 1881. Longmans and Co. London 1899, p. 7.

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  105. Iron salts, potassium prussiate, animal substances, in a very similar procedure to that used with Prussian Blue, yielded the Bleu Souchon which was regarded a very consistent alternative to indigo: “… on peut raisonablement admettre que l’on verra bientôt l’usage de l’indigo pour la teinture des laines, disparaître de la France…”, Souchon, Mémoire historique sur l’hydro-ferro-cyanate de per-oxide de fer, hydrocyanate de fer, prussiate de fer, bleu de Prusse ou de la teinture sur laine en bleu-Souchon sans indigo. Durand et Perrin. Lyon 1825, pp.36–37; “… la grande consommation d’indigo qui se fait en France, et qui nos rend tributaires de l’étranger, son prix si élevé… ont dû surtout éveiller leur attention [des chimistes] et exciter leur génie. Le bleu Raymond est connu dans le commerce depuis plusieurs années. Ce que cette teinture est pour la soie, le bleu Souchon l’est pour la laine”, M.A. Dupré Lasale, Traité de Fabrication. op. cit. (note 104), p. 304.

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    Agustí Nieto-Galan

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Nieto-Galan, A. (2001). Artisans and Artists in Dyeing and Printing. In: Colouring Textiles. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 217. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1081-7_5

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