In a message dated 4/11/2009 12:20:15 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
A couple of musings - was Yellow Starch simply the name of the stiffening agent; the agent itself was the issue, rather than the yellow colour - given that other *vegetal* products could dye textiles yellow. Did it in fact turn the textile really yellow, or was it a mere tinge of yellow - enough to associate the colour with the product, or was it white anyway, given that 'white' can be many shades (for example, compare the different brands of white threads, some whites aren't as white....etc.) yet beside another 'white' the one would look yellow compared to the other... I was thinking, during the previous discussion of yellow starch that it was probably a very pale pastel yellow, but the portraits reproduced in the Ribiero book show a deep saffron color, like curry. I have seen lace for sale that has this deep saffron color and vaguely heard an explanation that "you see that from time to time", but never thought it might be lace that was turned saffron as early as the 17th century, although the saffron colored lace I have seen for sale on people's stalls at the lace convention is of that era's style, ie scallops. It would appear from the texts that the saffron was in the starch. But why they didn't simply dye the lace saffron, rather than it being part of the starch, I don't know. Also, why do you never see lace of that era in the other interesting colors supposedly infused into the starch? Of course one of the pieces I was examining on Monday at the museum, was a strange brownish color, which could have been oxidized from some other more interesting color. Potatoes spoil under frosty conditions, don't they? Did the recipe-*writer* of Yellow Starch ever make the starch, or was just the hired scribe...did the recipe-*maker* have a different root veg. in mind, yet called it a potato? Were they using a yellow turnip? a parsnip? a dandelion root? - the latter gives yellow, red or blue dye depending on the mordant, the dye-set, used. I believe there is some reference to using urine as a mordant for a really nice yellow, in the Materials of Memory book. Speaking of the mordant, maybe whatever else was in the Yellow Starch had a poisoning effect (just maundering here). Whether Mrs. Turner (who was hanged in 1616, I believe) was the originator of yellow starch is unknown, but she did seem to have an impressive pedigree in other things such as poisoning and witchcraft. They found her with several wax figures, although, in her defense, people said they were fashion dolls. Also, Frances Howard, the person who was in the conspiracy to murder Thomas Overbury with Mrs. Turner, seemed to have quite a background in trying to arrange murders and poisonings. A book I am reading now, Anne Somerset, Unnatural Murder, which is about Frances Howard, (she married more than once and used different names) and the murder of Overbury presents the interesting information that at the time there were as many "Conjuring men" as there were Parish priests in England, and consulting them for purposes of enhancing fertility, finding lost objects, making people love you, and making annoying people die suddenly seemed to be common practice. Unfortunately, there is not as much about yellow starch in this book as I had hoped. Sue in EY provided the recipes, but I don't know where she got them from. They were for starch, not specifically yellow starch, although as she points out, they could have turned lace a beigy, browny, yellow color over time. <<We have used laundry/textile finishing starch since the 16th century, still do, though less so precisely now, than for instance when I remember my mother doing laundry, and melting blue waxy squares of probably wheat starch (or corn) in a tub of hot water. Some who wear white shirts still like to have the collars starched for appearance; some who enjoy ironing like the effect of starch on the fabrics, how it makes ironing easier. We aren't advised to use starch for our laces where we want them stiffened (such as for ornaments), because the starch attracts critturs in storage :)>> Personally, I have never excelled in laundry and I make my husband get polyester blend shirts. When I used the spray starch, it formed a gunk on my iron, so I stopped doing it. I have to wonder if I were to use wheat, corn or potato starch whether it wouldn't turn brown when I ironed it, or once again, form a residue on the iron. I do understand that they had all sorts of poking sticks and goffering irons at the time. But, the kind of starching they were doing seems very extreme, if the portraits are to be believed. My own experience with the spray starch yielded stiffness for about 20 minutes, as I recall. Devon **************Hurry! April 15th is almost here. File your Federal taxes FREE with TaxACT. (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221653545x1201423923/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.taxact.com%2F08tax.asp%3Fsc%3D084102950004%26p%3D8 2) - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
