Maybe something of the same chemical reaction as when dyeing with woad or indigo? My book on "Red Dyes: Cochineal, Madder and Murex Purple," notes a number of things regarding the use of mollusk secretions as a dye stuff. There are, for instance, several types of mollusks used for this, and they occur in different parts of the world AND produce different shades. There's a bluish one called "purpura hyacintha and a more reddish one called purpura blatta or Tyrian purple." According to the book, we don't have a lot of details about the actual process used in making ancient colors like Tyrian purple, although it sounds like it started with the extraction of the snail, removal of the gland in question, and then, any one of a number of possibilities. Too much history and war and destruction of dye works in the last 3000 years, I guess! ;o( Further on in the same section, the author discusses purple dyes that occur in the western hemisphere, and in that area, I found something that sounds much like what you're talking about. In 1909, an anthropologist wrote about mollusk dyeing along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and mentions: "' When the cotton thread is moistened with the color secretion it first turns green. Then, when it is dried by the rays of the sun, the green turns purple and becomes permanent.'" Interestingly, the section closes with a brief discussion on just what we mean when we say "purple," since it's really not one single color, but rather an entire ranges of shades. Some of them are virtually blue, others, much more distinctly red. A number of very old texts (such as the Old Testament) make clear distinctions between red-purple and blue-purple. There's even some 2nd century apocrypha describing Mary (mother of Jesus) being specifically honored in being chosen to spin the purple-red and scarlet-red fibers (I assume wool or silk)--I'm assuming as a young woman, because when she returns the finished yarns/threads to the priest, there's a bit of foreshadowing when the priest tells her that she "will be blessed among all the people of the world." (The same bit of apocrypha mentions "the gold, the white, the flax, the silk, the dark blue, the scarlet red, and the purple red", so something pretty expensive was going on....;o) --Sue in Montana p.s. Oh, yeah, the book I mentioned is "The Red Dyes: Cochineal, Madder, and Murex Purple," and it's written by Gosta Sandberg. Out of print, I believe, but a fascinating read.....
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelly Grant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 4:59 AM Subject: RE: [h-cost] Blue on Judith > Funny how this comes up today! > > Last night on 'Naked Archeaologist' the show was about the colour blue in > ancient times. How it was produced from the snail. The trick to getting > blue from the snail was to expose the dye to sunlight. The ultra violet > light produces a very vivid blue, if not exposed the dye will come out > purple. > > I thought it was fasinating. > > There is also quite a controversy in some sects of the Jewish faith over the > use of snails or cuttlefish to produce the dye. The archeaological evidence > suggests snails though, due to the amount of snail shells at dye sites. > > How they suggest the dye is made > > rotten dried up snail > caustic soda > boiling water > sunlight > > I am not a dyer, so I don't say this would work, I also don't know the > quantities of each. It was interesting to see them dye the fibre > though...when it first came out of the dye pot it was yellow, then once rung > out of liquid and probably exposed to the air turned blue before their eyes! > > Discussion????? > > > Kelly > > > > An insolent reply from a polite person is a bad sign. > > > Hippocrates (c.460-c.370 bc), Greek physician > > > > > > >From: Kathy Page <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > >On another list I am on, a topic coming up regarding the relevance the > >colour blue is to Jewish women came up, relative to the Book of Judith and > >all the spin off paintings it has created particularly in Italian ren > >paintings. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Find a local pizza place, music store, museum and more.then map the best > route! Check out Live Local today! http://local.live.com/?mkt=en-ca/ > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
