It is always exciting looking at different palettes of colours and read the inventive names they may be given: on Pantone's site you may find, for example, Pompeian Red, Mystic Blue and Lemon Meringue. But there is a shade that was used to dye cotton in the 18th and 19th century that has got an interesting history and it is famous for the laborious process employed to make it. The shade in question is called Turkey red.
Originating in India or Turkey and brought to Europe in the 1740s, this bright red shade became very popular and was used to dye or print cotton textiles in England, the Netherlands and France.
The multiple step process employed to make this colour from the root of the Rubia tinctorum ("dyer's madder") plant was time-consuming and complex: the first step was cleaning the textile and preparing it for the dyeing process; then the fabric was saturated in rancid olive oil and sheep dung. Other stages included mordanting the cloth or yarn with alum, dyeing the cloth in vats containing madder extract and bullock's blood and cleaning and brightening the cloth by boiling it in a solution of tin chloride.
Steps had to be repeated and it could take up to twenty-five days to complete the dyeing process. The results were bright and bold and could withstand strong sunlight and frequent washing without fading. The dye was first employed in Holland and France and, arond the 1780s, arrived in Manchester and Glasgow.
According to the recordings, it was Frenchman Pierre Jacques Papillon who imported the shade in Scotland (the first dye works was founded in 1785). As the process to make the dye required gallons and gallons of clean water at each stage, the abundance of water from the River Leven was an incentive for this business in Scotland, and so were the vast spaces where equipment and machinery could be installed.
Turkey red dyeing became therefore a major industry in the Vale of Leven, in West Dunbartonshire, throughout the 19th century, but, as you may guess, it also had an impact on the environment. United Turkey Red Co Ltd, founded in the 1890s, was by far the largest firm in the bleaching, finishing, dyeing and printing industry in Scotland, but there were other companies famous for Turkey red dyeing, such as John Orr Ewing and Co, founded at Alexandria in 1834; Archibald Orr Ewing and Co, founded at Levenfield in 1845; and William Stirling and Sons, founded at Dalquhurn and Cordale in c1723.
Sold throughout the world, from India and China to North America and the West Indies, Turkey red fabrics were characterised by a variety of printed motifs, from animals to geometric patterns, peacocks and floral borders, besides, paisley motifs were also popular. Different printing methods were employed, including mordant, direct printing (with wood blocks and copper rollers) and lead plate printing.
Skilled workers were employed to make these textiles, but the process was not just difficult, it was also dangerous and the hands of these workers were permanently dyed red. Strikes were frequent and eventually there were lay-offs later in the century.
Turkey red, was undermined by the cheap synthetic dyes and the last Turkey red in Scotland was produced in 1936. Yet, if you're interested in rediscovering this dye you can check the fabrics samples at the University of Glasgow Archive Services or the archives at the National Museums Scotland. The latter preserves a collection of 200 pattern books - known as the Turkey Red Collection - with patterns from the 1830s to the 1940s in a variety of ranges and sizes, from small booklets to large leather bound volumes.
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