Turkey red is a color that was widely used to dye cotton in the 18th and 19th century. It was made using the root of the
rubia plant, through a long and laborious process. It originated in India or Turkey, and was brought to Europe in the 1740s. In France it was known as ''rouge d'Andrinople''.
History
As the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
spread across Europe, chemists and manufacturers sought new red dyes that could be used for large-scale manufacture of textiles. One popular color imported into Europe from Turkey and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
in the 18th and early 19th century was
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
red, known in France as ''rouge d'Andrinople''. Beginning in the 1740s, this bright red color was used to dye or print cotton textiles in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Turkey red used the root of the rubia plant as the colorant, but the process was long and complicated, involving multiple soaking of the fabrics in lye, olive oil, sheep's dung, and other ingredients. The fabric was more expensive but resulted in a fine bright and lasting red, similar to
carmine, perfectly suited to cotton. The fabric was widely exported from Europe to Africa, the Middle East and America. In 19th-century America, it was widely used in making the traditional patchwork
quilt
A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, ...
.
The Process
The process of dyeing cotton Turkey red, as it was practiced in Turkey in the 18th century, was described in a text by a Manchester dyer in 1786:
*1. Boil cotton in lye of
Barilla or wood ash
*2. Wash and dry
*3. Steep in a liquor of Barilla ash or soda plus sheep's dung and olive oil
*4. Rinse, let stand 12 hours, dry
*5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 three times.
*6. Steep in a fresh liquor of Barilla ash or soda, sheep's dung, olive oil and white argol (potassium tartrate).
*7. Rinse and dry
*8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 three times.
*9. Treat with gall nut solution
*10. Wash and dry
*11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 once.
*12. Treat with a solution of alum, or alum mixed with ashes and Saccharum Saturni (lead acetate).
*13. Dry, wash, dry.
*14. Madder once or twice with Turkey
madder
''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains coffee. It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and its best-know ...
to which a little sheep's blood is added.
*15. Wash
*16. Boil in a lye made of soda ash or the dung liquor
*17. Wash and dry.
[John Wilson, ''An Essay on Light and Colours'', Manchester, 1786. Pg. 21-22.]
See also
*
Salu (cloth)
Salu (variously transcribed in English as ''sālū'', ''saloo'', and archaically, ''shallee'', ''shalloo'', ''shella'', and ''sallo'') is a type of twill cloth, woven from cotton and dyed red, originally made in India. Prior to the introduction ...
, a turkey red colored cloth.
Notes
References
*Sarah Lowengard (2006), ''The Creation of Color in 18th Century Europe'',Columbia University Press. (www.gutenberg-e.org/lowengard).
External links
*
{{shades of red
Shades of red