Edmonds, John. Tyrian or Imperial Purple Dye: The Mystery of Imperial Purple Dye. High Wycombe: John Edmonds, 2000.

Woode D (29 January 2021). " 'Regal' purple dye is found in Israeli artefacts dating 3,000 years to the reigns of kings Solomon and David". MSN . Retrieved 29 Jan 2021. Of course noting our feelings leads to an important question. Why do we place so much significance onto the color purple? To answer that, take a moment to think of all the natural life around you. Forget about everything artificially created by humans and instead remember all of the plants and animals which live in your environment. Bring the mixture to a simmer over a medium heat, give it another stir and leave to simmer for around an hour or until it has reached the desired strength of colour. Blue isn't an easy colour to make from a fruit or vegetable but with a bit of science know how you can turn your purple dye into a lovely shade of blue! Nowadays, almost every garment has been dyed with synthetic dyes, with the exception of communities in North America, Asia, Africa and the Scottish Highlands.

From death penalties for wearing the wrong colour, to the invention the search for a cure for malaria, dyes have a colourful past

The dyes that were used for garments were proportionate to the wealth or importance of the people. Wealthy people were wearing brightly hued colours, while the lower class was wearing clothes in the shades of white or brown. The slaves’ clothes were dyed in greys, greens and browns. Either way, dyed garments were expensive and a matter of exclusivity, across the whole ancient world. Synthetic dyes Pink is another colour that can be made by adding an extra ingredient to your purple-red cabbage dye. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon and pour it into your purple dye, give it a stir and you'll see the colour change to a reddish pink! In 1464, Pope Paul II decreed that cardinals should no longer wear Tyrian purple, and instead wear scarlet, from kermes and alum, [35] since the dye from Byzantium was no longer available. Bishops and archbishops, of a lower status than cardinals, were assigned the color purple, but not the rich Tyrian purple. They wore cloth dyed first with the less expensive indigo blue, then overlaid with red made from kermes dye. [36] [37] Creating purple dye from purple gromwell was a far easier and more efficient process than what we saw in Tyre. That said, it was also more difficult to work with. Dyes made from purple gromwell didn’t adhere to or saturate fabric very well. This ensured a certain level of scarcity for purple garments. But the scarcity was still nowhere near what was seen in the West. As such, purple clothing wasn’t as treasured in China as it was in the West. However, it was still one of the more expensive choices for someone’s wardrobe. Ramig K, Lavinda O, Szalda DJ, Mironova I, Karimi S, Pozzi F, etal. (June 2015). "The nature of thermochromic effects in dyeings with indigo, 6-bromoindigo, and 6,6′-dibromoindigo, components of Tyrian purple". Dyes and Pigments. 117: 37–48. doi: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2015.01.025.

This post will take you on a journey through the history of the color purple. We’ll be looking at how the color was first created and how it has evolved throughout time. But we’ll also look at the deep emotional connection we have with this color and try to uncover where it originates from. It’s truly amazing to think about these early humans venturing into the total darkness of a cave. At best they would have only had the light of makeshift torches to guide their way. And when they found the perfect spot these intrepid artists would use their painstakingly created pigments to draw the most important aspects of their life. They’d create images of the prey they hoped to take down so that their friends and family could eat. And these same people left us images of the hands they used to create those representations. A Color Worth Its Weight in GoldS pinach– Spinach will turn the water it's cooking in bright green, by simmering it for an hour we can make sure it releases as much of the colour as possible so that we are left with a vibrant natural dye colour. Cunliffe, Barry (2008). Europe between the Oceans: 9000BC – AD1000. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p.241. The process of extracting the dye takes around 45 minutes and begins with shells being individually crushed and the gland torn out (MEE/Tom Westcott) Purple is sometimes associated with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) community. [ citation needed] It is the symbolic color worn on Spirit Day, a commemoration that began in 2010 to show support for young people who are bullied because of their sexual orientation. [89] [90] Purple is closely associated with bisexuality, largely in part to the bisexual pride flag saturation or intensity. A less bright purple can also be created with light or paint by adding a certain quantity of the third primary color (green for light or yellow for pigment).

Dye production only ceased when the Ottoman Turks took Constantinople - the last purple dye production centre - in the 15th century AD. Nouira says maybe this was because green was the favoured Islamic colour, but that, whatever the reason, it ensured the survival of the Mediterranean’s Murex population. The lure of Tyrian purple is so strong that we’ve even tried to fully recreate it in modern times. German chemist Paul Friedländer would replicate the process in 2008. The simple goal of coloring a handkerchief required 12,000 mollusks. However, by 2010 scientists perfected a method to create the dye synthetically. The End of Purple Scarcity Colors often evoke a wide range of emotions from those who gaze upon them. Of course these emotions are usually guided in part by our own experiences. We often associate the most meaningful moments in our lives with specific colors. We might fall in love with the color blue as we develop those same feelings for someone with blue eyes. A hiker pushing himself on a quest of discovery and self improvement might associate the colors of a forest with feelings of success. We might even carry over an appreciation for specific colors from otherwise forgotten moments in childhood. Throughout the mid to late 19 th century scientists around the world began to develop colours for dying fabrics from chemicals. Tyrian purple was an ancient dye, very expensive because the shells of thousands of murex sea snails produced only a tiny amount. Wearing purple was therefore favoured by the wealthy as a mark of high social status.Image source for Detail of fringing and sleeve on a purple dress dyed with Perkin's mauveine dye c.1862 Once you've got your natural dyes all made up you can get on to dyeing your chosen fabric. The best fabric to use with natural dyes is a natural fabric. Natural fabric and fibres will take on colour much better than synthetic materials, so you want to work with things like cotton, silk, wool and linen. Actually, no-one could give me any advice because so few people were doing it, so I had to go it alone, learning the hard way,” Nouira explains. After two years of experimentation, he produced his first pigment powder. 'Nothing is wasted' Mathews GM, Iredale T (May 1912). " "Perry's Arcanda" – an overlooked work". The Victorian Naturalist. 29 (1): 7–16. ; see p. 11.