From: Jack Fulton (jfulton@itsa.ucsf.edu)
Date: 02/20/02-12:01:51 AM Z
>> Since we are in topic of dyes, would you happen to know, where the expensive
>> blue dye came from in the Middle Age and why was so?
>>
>> Alejandro López de Haro
An interesting tale of purple comes from the Jewish rectangular cloth known
as the Tallit (or tzitzit). Jews have used this important cloth for bar and
bat mistvahs, Yom Kippur etc. It is today used as a prayer shawl as I
understand it. Originally it was more of a dress cloth similar to the toga
Jews had to wear under Roman rule.
The royal color used by Jews and important Roman personages is the color
purple. Today you see that same blue/purple in the tassels of the Tallit.
There was a particular beautiful color of purple used to dye Tallits prior
to the Middle Ages and in the past couple of decades the source for it has
been rediscovered.
This is why I recount the story because it is of interest to me and, I
believe, to photographers. Because of its nature, some of us might be
interested in trying to extend this color and make a photo image on cloth.
As I remember, this information came from a Scientific American article I
read a number of years ago. Sorry for this long introduction.
Anyway, a few years ago Jewish scientists were attempting to recreate this
ancient purple and found, along the coast of the Mediterranean, the source:
a sea slug or snail. The snail/slug exudes a mucous to slide across the
ground as we all know. this particular snail/slug is in a limited area along
the Mediterranean Sea and when gathered in a sufficient quantity and (I
guess) squeezed and smashed, produce a yellow mucous-like substance that
WHEN EXPOSED TO SUNLIGHT turns purple. This was the ancient source of the
purple for the Tallit.
I think one might be able to reproduce a silk-screened negative using
squashed sea snail/slugs and exposing to sun.
Another famed blue cloth is worn by the Tuareg of Morocco. This was brought
to them by Scottish traders and is indigo. There must be sufficient indigo
on the cloth to an excess degree so as to impart the color to the body of
the Tuareg. If observed in markets, you'll see a Tuareg rubbing the cloth to
see how much comes off on the fingers. This signifies a good piece of cloth.
I have extrapolated that further and realized that indigo was one of the
hotly traded items in pre-Civil War United States. That, and the fact the
south produced virtually all the cotton brought me to the conclusion that is
where blue denim material must originate. Hence, the Levi jean.
Sorry if I carried this a bit too far.
Jack Fulton
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