Dyeing in antiquity
Staining methods in the Roman Empire
From the root of madder (Latin: rubia tinctorum or rubia peregrina ) a red dye was already extracted in ancient times . Pliny calls this plant in his work naturalis historia rubia (Plin. XIX, 47), erythrodanum or ereuthodanum (Plin. XXIV, 94). According to Pliny, madder was planted near Rome as early as 50 AD . Dioscurides mentions that the plant was planted in the olive groves near Ravenna .
But madder was known as a dye long before Roman times. The oldest evidence of this was made on a piece of string found in Mohenjodaro in what is now Pakistan. This find dates from around 2200 BC. In Egypt, madder dyeing is very old. The oldest evidence found there comes from the workers' settlement of Kahun and dates from around 1550 BC. Assigned to Chr. Textile fragments from the grave of the famous Pharaoh Tut-ench-amun also yielded madder as a dye.
Madder-like plants were widely used as coloring agents beyond the Mediterranean region. This type of dye was already known in the Han period in China, which roughly corresponds to the time of Roman rule. In a similar period of time, the Indians of Peru colored with plants of the Relbunium family, which also gave madder-like colorations.
The oldest recipes for dyeing madder are on a neo-Babylonian clay tablet from around 700 BC. Included. The Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis with the most extensive collection of ancient coloring formulas, which was written at the beginning of the fourth century AD, mentions coloring with madder.
The discovery of the dyeing methods with purple from the sea snails of the species murex brandaris , murex trunculus and "purpura haemastoma" (newer names: "bolinus brandaris", "hexaplex trunculus" and "thais haemastoma") is based on previous views and according to literary tradition the Phoenicians back. However, recent research has established that the Minoans on Crete did purple dyeing before the Phoenicians. Dyeing with purple was extremely expensive, so there were numerous ways of stretching purple with cheaper dyes. Purple dyeings were simulated by over-dyeing with madder or by pre-dyeing or priming the textile with the lichen dye Orseille ( rocella tinctoria ). These substitutes were called conchylium purple, which, in contrast to real purple, was relatively cheap because only a small amount of snail purple was needed for it. This interpretation of Pliny the Elder Ä. The expression to be found is, however, controversial in the literature. Furthermore, by pre-coloring with Kermes or over-coloring with so-called Tyrian purple, a cheaper purple coloring could be achieved. A bluish-red shade was obtained from this, which was called hysgin purple (after the plant hyacinthus ). In late ancient Egypt , the snail purple was imitated with a mixture of indigo and madder, and the result was called Egyptian purple. There was even an industry of its own in antiquity for the production of cheaper purple dyes. In the Graecus Holmiensis papyrus, for example, according to some authors, a collection of recipes for the production of “false” purple is handed down. However, recent research does not accept this thesis, especially since the commercial use of these recipes is very questionable. The recipes are most likely from practical dyers, but they have probably been partially reinterpreted by alchemists in their sense.
The Roman robes, which were called vestes fucatae , were possibly dyed with orseille - also called litmus lichen (Latin: rocella tinctoria , fucus marinus , alga maris ). This plant was a type of lichen that could also be used to produce colored lacquers, which were used as artist pigments. According to Pliny, saffron (Latin: crocus sativus ) was grown in Abruzzo and Sicily . The flower stigmas were used to dye women's clothing yellow and to make artist pigments.
From the herb and the seed of the Wau or Dyer's weed (lat .: reseda luteola ), which Pliny herba lutea calls, was a yellow dye obtained. This dye was used for the coloring of the flame , the veil of the bride at the wedding , or the robes of the vestals . During the Roman Empire , the roots of turmeric (lat .: curcuma domestica ) were turned into a yellow color, which was used in particular for dyeing wool . Turmeric (yellow further ginger , saffron, Gilb- or turmeric called) in powder form was used by the Romans as terra merita referred to and the raw material from the Orient imported.
The woad (Latin: Isatis tinctoria ) was used, among other things, in indigo dyeing. Since the preparation of the woad leaves for dyeing was a less laborious procedure than that of Indian indigo (Latin: indigofera tinctoria ), woad was common in blue dyeing. Isatan B contained in the leaves of woad is a preliminary product of indigo. Isatan belongs to the group of glucosides and is broken down by fermentation by the glucosidase contained in the plant into the precursor of indigo indoxyl and glucose . The water-insoluble indigo is formed by oxidation in the air. By adding alkali in the form of stale urine (due to the high ammonia content) or potash (= potassium carbonate K 2 CO 3 ), the substance which is insoluble in water can be converted into water-soluble so-called vats using the reducing agent glucose . Only in this form can the indigo be colored on wool, linen or cotton , whereby the material turns yellow. The blue indigo color is finally obtained through reoxidation in air.
The “real” Indian indigo (Latin: Indigofera tinctoria ) was first mentioned by Vitruvius in his work de architectura , and this plant is also mentioned by Dioscurides and Pliny. The latter know the origin, cleaning, use and adulteration of the indigo, as well as the means to detect the fakes. In classical antiquity, indigo was mainly used as an artist's pigment and for paints, whereas the similar woad was used exclusively for dyeing textiles. Indigo was originally planted in East India, where the plant came from through merchants and traders to Asia Minor and Europe . Oak gall extract ( gall apples ) was mainly used for blackening , as these have a high tannin content (55 to 65% gallic tannic acid). This extract was dyed on wool that had been pre- stained with iron acetate . This connection with iron salt creates a tannin black on the wool, which was used to produce black ink, so-called iron gall ink . This black color was mentioned by Pliny and Theophrastus of Eresos . The bark of the oak was used for dyeing clothes because of its tannin content.
The bark of the acacia or babula acacia (Latin: Acacia nilotica , Acacia arabica ) was used by the Romans for brown tones on alum stain and for dark gray-brown and black colors on iron stain . From the extract of the leaves and the stems of the bridal myrtle (lat .: Myrtus commnis L. ) a black dye was made for coloring the hair, which was very popular in the Middle East. The walnut tree or Persian walnut bam (lat .: Juglans regia ) was originally native to Persia and Asia Minor and was used in the 1st century BC. Introduced into Italy by the writer, farmer and scholar Marcus Terentius Varro (116 to 27 BC) and planted from then on. According to Pliny, the green walnut shells were used to dye wool and hair brown. The Romans also used the common pointed burdock (Latin: Xanthium strumarium L. ) to dye the hair. The color of elderberries (lat .: sambucus nigra) was used to dye wool in violet color, which was previously processed with alum stain. A genus of broom (Latin: genista ) was used to dye yellow, today this type is called dyer's or awl gorse ( Genista tinctoria L. ). The knowledge of dye plants and their use was passed on to the conquered lands by the Romans. The Germanic tribes , in turn, taught the Romans that juices from various fruits could be used for coloring. Of Northern Europeans the Romans learned, for example, how to achieve a green mixed color initially was adjusted a blue color with woad (lat .: isatis tinctoria ) here, which then with the yellow dye of the Dyer's weed (lat .: reseda luteola was colored). Whether the Teutons were actually the masters of the Romans in this dyeing method seems rather questionable. Such a coloration is documented for the finds made by Lonne Hede in Denmark for the 1st century AD, but at about the same time, corresponding colorations were also found in analyzes of textiles from various excavation sites in the Roman Empire. The Gauls obtained green wool by dyeing it with a mixture of unripe black currants (Latin: ribes nigrum ) and juniper berries (Latin: juniperus communis ). The blueberries (lat .: vaccinium myrtillus L. ) were also used here to dye slave clothing in purple.
Dyeing methods of the Germanic peoples and other northern European peoples
Finds of textile remnants and completely preserved pieces of clothing that were preserved in moors and tree coffins in northern Germany, Denmark and Sweden give indications of the way in which the Teutons dyed their textiles. Since bog finds of textiles are usually strongly colored brown due to the humic acids (formed from the remains of dead organisms in the ground) of the bog, other dyes can usually not be seen with the naked eye. One of the most interesting finds is the magnificent Thorsberg coat , which is around 1600 years old . The piece was found in 1859 in the Thorsberger Moor in Schleswig-Holstein . The many fragments were sewn onto a fabric base and could be reconstructed into one unit. Initially, the textile fragments were colored completely brown by the moor, and indigo (from a color with woad ) was only detected by dye analysis . A reconstruction of the magnificent Thorsberg coat was made by the Textile Museum in Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein). In his work Germania, Tacitus gives little information about the dyes used by the Germanic peoples, but mentions: “With the Germanic peoples, the costume of women differs in no way from that of men. They just wrap themselves more often in linen garments which they cover with colorful purple. ”This purple was probably not a“ real ”purple, the Germanic tribes were more likely to have madder and, more likely, bedstraw as a red dye. The red-colored roots of various bedstraws (lat .: galium ), such as "real bedstraw" (lat .: galium verum ) and meadow bedstraw (lat .: galium mollugo ), were used for this. The flowers of the dyer's broom (lat .: genista tinctoria ) were used to dye yellow, also the herb of the tansy (lat .: tanacetum vulgare ) and the leaves, stems and seeds of the dyer's wau (lat .: reseda luteola ). Furthermore, dyeings with the help of lichens and fungi can come into question, but the development of detection methods for these dyes is still at the beginning.
History of pigments, occurrence and use
Already in the cave paintings of southern France and Spain there are findings of prehistoric painting, which were made with red and yellow ocher , soot and plant black . The phases of Egyptian painting in particular have been very well researched. Due to the large number of wall paintings, painted stone and wooden sculptures, colored stone and ceramic vessels and papyri with drawings, it was possible to clarify which pigments were used in Egypt as early as the 19th century . The following new knowledge was gained in 1974 through investigations carried out by the Rathgen Research Laboratory in Berlin (see list of literature): Huntite was used as a material for rubbing out scratched decorations in Nubian ceramics, cobalt blue only appeared as a reaction product when ceramics were fired , and the pigments were also used Paratacamite and chrysocolla detected. Another well-developed group of pigments relates to the epoch of Greek wall painting of the 3rd millennium BC. Until the Roman period. As in the Egyptian area, lime paint , yellow and red ocher, hematite , very often cinnabar , Egyptian blue , malachite and black carbon pigments were used. Egyptian blue is already around 3000 BC. On Knossos and around 2500 BC. Proven on kerosene . Researchers discovered that on Knossos as early as 1700/1600 BC. A naturally occurring blue called glaucophane - either in its pure form, but mostly mixed with Egyptian blue - was used. Later this pigment was also found in Thera on Santorini . Around 330 BC The use of madder in the form of pink pigment for painting terracotta figures was discovered. Earlier traces lead to Cyprus in the seventh century BC. Chr.
However, today's research is best informed about the use of pigments in Roman times. The knowledge is mainly based on the excavations in Pompeii , which provided a very rich finds, as among other things shops of paint dealers were proven.
The discovery of a Roman villa in a field near St. Médard des Prés in France was also a landmark find. About 80 m from the building was the grave of a woman, to whom grave goods such as painting tools, mortars, rubbing stones, spoons, paintbrushes, and about 80 glass vials with pigments and binding agents were added.
In 1988 a grave near Herne - St. Hubert in Belgium was uncovered, which contained over 100 paint cubes and painting tools.
The grave of a Roman painter from a burial ground in Nida-Heddernheim contained 29 paint pots, mostly with paint residues. The primary colors red ocher, copper blue, lead white and "sandarak" were available to the painter. The grave is now in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum in Frankfurt .
The most important scientific work on pigments appeared in 1967 by S. Augusti, I colori pompeiani on the materials found in Pompeii. In total, he examined 27 white, 16 gray, 49 yellow, 51 red, 12 green, 46 blue, 19 purple and one black pigment samples.
When it comes to white pigments, Augusti differentiates between a number of types of chalk, which differ in their admixtures. He considers the paraetonium mentioned in ancient literature to be a material with a low proportion of silica , magnesium and phosphate . Furthermore, Augusti believes that he can distinguish the types of chalk from various deposits ( melinum, erertira, selinusa, creta anularia and cimola ). However , Augusti was unable to detect white lead in Pompeii. Among the yellow pigments, the researcher came across the yellow lead oxide (PbO) massicot relatively often , but this has not been proven in painting due to the poor lightfastness and the resulting rapid discoloration in brown. When red pigments outweigh various types of red ocher, rare cinnabar, red lead and realgar , while a red-violet element often purple on calcareous or siliceous substrate has been demonstrated. Augusti was only able to identify Egyptian blue as a blue pigment, azurite , ultramarine and indigo are often mentioned in ancient literature, but not found in Pompeii. In the case of green pigments, he was able to detect verdigris , more rarely malachite or “green earth”. The only black sample turned out to be carbon black.
See also
literature
- Helmut Schweppe: Handbook of natural dyes. Occurrence, use, evidence . 1992
- Hugo Bluemner: Technology and terminology of trades and arts among Greeks and Romans 1912
- Eberhard Prinz: Dye plants, instructions for dyeing, use in culture and medicine 2009 ISBN 978-3510652587
- Josef Riederer : Archeology and Chemistry. Insights into the past. Exhibition of the Rathgen research laboratory SMPK . September 1987 to January 1988
- Vinzenz Brinkmann (ed.): Colorful gods. The colors of ancient sculpture. An exhibition by the Staatliche Antikensammlung und Glyptothek Munich in collaboration with the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Copenhagen and the Vatican Museums, Rome . Glyptothek Munich, December 16, 2003 to February 29, 2004
- Selim Augusti: I colori pompeiani . 1967
- Ute Meyer: Dyes from nature. History and rediscovery . 1997
- Herbert Vogler: The dyeing of Teutons and Celts, German dye calendar, Volume 93 (1989), pp. 225–243
- Herbert Vogler: Dyeing in Roman times, German Färberkalender Volume 95 (1991), pp. 182-193
- Karl Reinking: Wool dyeing instructions from Greek papyri, Leipzig 1938
- Herbert Vogler: Dyeing has been going on for thousands of years - an overview of ancient dyeing, Textilveredlung 21 (1986), pp. 229–235
- Dominique Cardon et al. Gaetan de Chatenet: Guide des Teintures Naturelles, Paris 1990
- Renate Germer: Textile dyeing and the use of dyed textiles in ancient Egypt, Wiesbaden 1992
- Herbert Vogler: The ancient dye works in Müller, W., Handbook of color chemistry, Landsberg 2000
- Rodolphe Pfister: Teinture et Alchemie dans l'Orient Hellénistique, Seminarium Kondakovianum, Prague 1935
Web links
- Immanuel Löw: Semitic dye plants ; Journal of Semitic Studies and Related Areas, Volume 1 (1922); published on behalf of the German Oriental Society. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1.1922 - 10.1935; (PDF file) ; (PDF file, second data source)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis: Recepte for silver, stones and purple. Edited by Otto Lagercrantz, Upsala and Leipzig 1913.
- ↑ H. Schweppe: Handbook of natural dyes. Occurrence use proof . Ecomed, S. 253-255 .
- ↑ Hans-Gert Bachmann / Wolfgang Czysz : The grave of a Roman painter from Nida-Heddernheim. In: Germania 55, 1977, pp. 85-107.