In Aileen Ribiero's book about 17th century fashion, and in other books there is reference to one Ann Turner who went to her hanging in yellow starched lace. Also, in the Ribiero book, which is in color, allowing one to see some familiar portraits for the first time in color, there are several portraits in which the lace is really yellow in striking contrast to the lace that went before and the lace that came after. In fact, after Ann Turner's death (she was involved in a poisoning) the fashion for yellow starched lace ended rather abruptly. Some people have told me that there were other colors in starch, such as blue, but that museum cleaning practices of painted portraits have rendered these tinted laces to white, on the basis of what subsequent museum conservators assumed were the correct colors. It could, of course, be the case that regular starch has yellowed as Susan says. I am ignorant about English starching practices. Can anyone point me to a source about starching in the early 17th century. I don't even know what a regular starch recipe would have consisted of. Devon In a message dated 4/10/2009 4:34:31 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I think it's likely that the yellowing was more caused by the fact that the starch was taken from vegetable matter. It wasn't until the 1850's that Reckitts introduced blueing to washing in order to counteract the yellowing left by repeated starching. Sue in EY On 10 Apr 2009, at 20:36, [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) wrote: During the early 17th century there was a fashion for starching lace yellow. Also, sometimes, one sees lace that looks like lace of that era that is yellow, brownish or saffron in color. Do you think that these colors could have been the result of a residue of yellow starch, or are they more likely to have been colored in the 19th century for reasons of fashion then? It seems to me that starch usually washes out of things, but yellow starch may have left a residue. However, in the 19th century there was a lot of tea dying and coffee dying going on, and possibly they might even have been imparting a bright saffron to the lace for the same reasons. We have some yellowish pieces in the museum and I am wondering if they may be discolored due to yellow starching- an exciting idea, or whether the color was imparted in the 19th century- a less exciting idea. Devon **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (_http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220814837x1201410725/aol?redir=http :%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26_ (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220814837x1201410725/aol?redir=http://www.fr eecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&) hmpgID%3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooterNO62) - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) . For help, write to [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) Regards Sue. (http://www.uwdcvideos.co.uk/index.taf?exref=262998&v=1) = **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220814837x1201410725/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooterNO62) - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
