088192668X |
(hardcover) |
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Summary
Summary
The dyeing of textiles and other materials is a rewarding and delightful way to bring the colors of nature to daily living. In our technological age, dyes from plants offer subtle and diverse hues unavailable from synthetic dyestuffs. They connect practitioners to the environment as well as to the crafts and history of our ancestors. Dyes from native plants offer a special source of satisfaction and beauty. In this fascinating book, the authors have compiled extensive information to bring the techniques, plants, and lore of natural dyeing within every reader's reach. Chapters include discussions of color theory, dye equipment, dye processes, mordants, and easy-to-follow instructions for processing plants and dyeing fabrics. The core of the book is an exhaustive reference to the hundreds of colors that can be obtained from 158 commonly encountered North American plant species. The authors include detailed records of the various plant parts needed to produce different colors, cross-referencing each color to the Munsell color system, an internationally accepted standard for describing color. Finally, the book offers a practical botanical field guide that allows readers to locate and identify each plant in the book. Beautiful color photographs round out the volume.
Author Notes
Lynne Richards is a professor in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at Oklahoma State University
Ronald J. Tyrl is professor of botany at Oklahoma State University and curator of the university's herbarium
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Richards and Tyrl discuss the science of color and dyeing, the history of natural dyes, dye equipment and processing, and the colors obtained from 158 native North American plant species that are dissected and their parts processed and tested with five mordants. The result is a collection of more than 4,600 dye samples presented in a wealth of color photographs. The authors meticulously describe each of the 158 species and the exact colors various parts of each plant produce, and they identify the experimental conditions that result in little or no dye color. Each entry includes a description of the plant's morphological characteristics, soil requirements, and distribution. The result is a rather technical manual, hence a bit demanding, but readers interested in the techniques of dyeing will find it indispensable. --George Cohen Copyright 2005 Booklist
Choice Review
The use of plants for small-scale dyeing of textiles has a long and obscure history. In this book, Richards and Tyrl (both, Oklahoma State Univ.) started with references found in the 116-volume Indian Pioneer Papers produced by the WPA-sponsored Oklahoma Indian Pioneer Project, and added a broad range of information from other sources. Their painstaking work adds new information, and clarifies and makes accessible some tidbits of knowledge that had been lost to memory. The book contains three starkly different parts. First, a section discusses natural dyeing and its history. The second section lists indigenous plants, the plant part used, the dyeing techniques, and the resulting colors. This section includes labeled color swatches to guide the reader. The third section describes the plants used and their range and includes many small color pictures. This work contains much more information about the use of North American plants for dyeing than does Anne Bliss's worthwhile book on this subject, A Handbook of Dyes from Natural Materials (1981). A very specialized work, it will be invaluable for any institution serving a population of ethnobotanists or supporting programs in textiles. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels. J. Cummings Washington State University
Excerpts
Excerpts
The origins of natural dyeing are hidden in the mists of prehistory. No doubt early humans observed the staining properties of plants when they plucked fruits or flowers and noted the various colors of rocks and soils. Human bones in prehistoric Neolithic graves have been found powdered with colored mineral pigments, suggesting that these people used the colors of the earth to add decoration to their clothing and bodies.To these early humans, the extraction and transfer of colors from nature to objects of their choice must have seemed magical. As a result, superstitions evolved concerning the ritualistic procedures whereby the wonders of natural dyeing were accomplished, and certain colors were believed to have magical powers (Knaggs 1992). Even among some twentieth-century cultures, superstition continued to be a part of the dyeing process. On the island of Rotti, in Indonesia, members of the indigenous culture traditionally believed that evil spirits enjoyed dipping their hands into dyepots to deprive the dyes of their effectiveness. Charms constructed from the wood of the lontar tree and hen's feathers were hung above the dyepots to ward off such mischievous evil (Buhler 1948).Natural Dyeing in AntiquityEvidence of natural dyeing in antiquity has been discovered in many parts of the world (Lillie 1979). Natural dyed fabrics were commercially produced in China as early as 3000 B.C., according to an ancient Chinese document (Adrosko 1971). Textile fragments dyed with roots from the madder plant (Rubia tinctoria), which produces red, were found at Mohenjo-Daro, an archaeological site in Pakistan dating to around 2500 B.C. Similar fabrics have also been unearthed in Egyptian tombs (Dean 1999). Ancient Hebrew women collected shield lice from the branches of oak trees to produce a red dye, a color source now known as kermes, and the Bible records the use of many other diversely colored fabrics (Sandberg 1994; Wilson 1979).The ancient Phoenician dye industry, which was located along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea as early as 1500 B.C., is credited with the discovery of several beautiful purple dyes, one of which was known as Tyrean purple. These purple hues were obtained from glandular secretions produced by a number of mollusk species (Knaggs 1992; Sandberg 1989, 1994). Dibromoindigo, the dye chromophore found in these secretions, changes from yellow to red-purple upon exposure to air (Bliss 1981; Wilson 1979). Tyrean purple was extremely expensive to produce because of the complicated vatting process it required and because as many as 12,000 mollusks were needed to produce only 3.5 ounces of dye (Held 1973). As a result of its costliness, Tyrean purple became the color of royalty. Modern archaeological excavations along the eastern Mediterranean coast have turned up huge mounds of old shells, revealing the presence of those ancient dye works.As early as 2000 B.C., mordants were fortifying natural dyes in India (Held 1973). Pli Excerpted from Dyes from American Native Plants: A Practical Guide by Lynne Richards, Ronald J. Tyrl All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.Table of Contents
Preface | p. 6 |
Chapter 1 An Introduction to Natural Color | p. 9 |
Chapter 2 A Brief History of Natural Dyeing | p. 17 |
Chapter 3 Dye Supplies and Equipment | p. 24 |
Chapter 4 The Processes of Natural Dyeing | p. 29 |
Chapter 5 Purple and Red: Nature's Rarest Dye Colors | p. 41 |
Chapter 6 Green: Nature's Own Color | p. 45 |
Chapter 7 Yellow: Nature's Most Bountiful Dye Color | p. 60 |
Chapter 8 Orange: Nature's Brightest Dye Color | p. 97 |
Chapter 9 Brown: Nature's Autumn Dye Color | p. 103 |
Chapter 10 Black: Nature's Neutral Dye Color | p. 129 |
Chapter 11 Materials That Produce Little or No Color | p. 139 |
Chapter 12 A Catalog of Native Dye Plants | p. 179 |
Conversion Tables | p. 305 |
Glossary | p. 306 |
References | p. 321 |
Index | p. 325 |