Bole is a shade of reddish brown.
The color term derives from Latin ' (or dirt) and refers to a kind of soft fine
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
whose reddish-brown varieties are used as pigments, and as a coating in
panel painting
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...
s and frames underneath the paint or
gold leaf. Under gold leaf, it "warms" the colour, which can have a greenish shade otherwise. However, bole in art is a good deal more red and less brown than the modern shade; it is often called
Armenian bole
Armenian bole, also known as bolus armenus or bole armoniac, is an earthy clay, usually red, native to Armenia but also found in other places. The term Armenian was later referred to a specific quality of the clay. Originally used in medication, it ...
. Although ''bole'' also means the
trunk of a tree, these words are simply
homograph
A homograph (from the el, ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also ...
s that do not share an etymological origin.
Overview
Another name for the color ''bole'' is terra rosa. The color name ''terra rosa'' has been used as a synonym for bole since 1753. The color terra rosa is classified a warm
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
color. In
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, it's classified as being similar to
Venetian red
Venetian red is a light and warm (somewhat unsaturated) pigment that is a darker shade of red, derived from nearly pure ferric oxide (Fe2O3) of the hematite type. Modern versions are frequently made with synthetic red iron oxide.
Historically, ...
, but more
pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
or
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
. In French, it corresponds to the color
châtaigne.
''Bole'' is one of the oldest
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...
names in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. The first recorded use of ''bole'' as a color name in English was in the year 1386.
[Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190; Color Sample of Bole: Page 33 Plate 5 Color Sample F11]
See also
*
List of colors
These are the lists of colors;
* List of colors: A–F
* List of colors: G–M
* List of colors: N–Z
* List of colors (compact)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colors
* List of X ...
References
External links
ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps— See sample of the color Bole (color sample #43) displayed on indicated page.
{{Shades of brown
Bole