Colour will return to dyed items as they re-oxygenate on removal into the air. The vat turns a yellowy colour and fibre, threads or fabric are introduced. This reduction process is achieved by removing oxygen from the pigment molecules, or by adding hydrogen to them. In reduction the pigment’s molecules are converted to a slightly altered, but more soluble, molecular structure. An additional requirement for dissolution of the pigment is that it must undergo ‘reduction’. Recovery of the dyeing method Shellfish pigment must first be made soluble, (as with any dye), and this only occurs in alkaline conditions of around pH 8 and higher. Any contemporaneous written records of the dye process are incomplete or ambiguous, and cannot be used to make a vat. Basically, when the dyers ‘disappeared’ they took the method with them. The biochemical method of shellfish dyeing was complex, relying on processes which were not understood chemically, and were probably only passed down within families. Analysis of historic textiles continues to confirm this. And in the eastern Mediterranean, purple dyeing ceased almost a millennium earlier as a result of the Arab conquest at the beginning of the 7th century. It’s well known (in the dye world, at least) that shellfish dyeing largely ceased around the time of the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, after which the last dyers seemed to have disappeared. Although an article linked from the Guardian states ‘ snail-fueled purple persisted until chemists learned to make synthetic dyes,’ this is quite untrue. Tyrian Purple has already ‘disappeared’ once. Historical cessation of shellfish dyeing The word ‘Tyrian’ derives from the city of Tyre on the north African coast, an area long associated with the Phoenicians and the shellfish dyeing industry. ‘The shellfish that was one of the main sources of Tyrian purple – one of the most storied and valuable trading products in the ancient world – has disappeared from the eastern Mediterranean coast, amid warnings of an ongoing multi-species collapse blamed on global rises in sea temperatures.’ There is an ‘all day’ ticket for all four talks, or you can book in for individual speakers here Susan Dye 3.00 pm – 4.00 pm Growing and Using your own Dye Garden Luisa Aribe 1.30 pm – 2.30 pm An Indigo Journey Isabella Whitworth 11.30 am – 12.30 pm Pursuing Purple: Shellfish, Lichen and Mauve You can Insta-follow me on and The Loom Shed at Loom Shed Online Natural Dye Symposium ProgrammeĪviva Leigh 10.00 am – 11.00 am Strips, Stripes and Satins – Exploring 18th Century Norwich Textiles On June 10th at 12.45 pm I will be doing an Instagram Live with Liz Croft. There is also a varied programme of speakers and courses and you can look at their Events page to see the latest listings. It was decided to hold the event online this year but in the future there will be dye-related workshops and events at The Loom Shed itself, which is located in East Devon. The Natural Dye Symposium is on June 26th and will offer a day of talks by four specialist natural dye speakers. My findings very unexpectedly linked two other famous purple dyes: Imperial or Tyrian Purple, and Perkin’s Mauve. ![]() ![]() If you follow my blog you’ll know I became particularly intrigued by the dye trade in lichen, historically used for making a purple dye called orchil. My talk Pursuing Purple: Shellfish, Lichen and Mauve will follow some of the dye trails I discovered when researching a nineteenth century industrial archive. Both Laura and Liz are passionate about yarn craft and the benefits to mental health that craft work can bring. The Loom Shed has been set up by Louise Cottey, weaver and tutor, and Liz Croft, crochet specialist, weaver and tutor. But weaving isn’t all that’s planned at this new and imaginative venue. What is The Loom Shed? Well, it’s a shed and it has looms in it. ![]() Left: Perkin’s mauve centre, Tyrian purple threads and murex shells right orchil lichen, orchil-dyed silk and woolĪt the end of the month I’ll be taking part in an online symposium run by The Loom Shed.
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