Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments (Paperback)

~ Guineau Delamare (Author), Ber Francois (Author) "Where do colors come from?..." (more)
Key Phrases: natural indigo, synthetic indigo, arsenic trisulfide, Middle Ages, United States, Gobelins Tapestry Works (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In our overstimulated, color-saturated society it is easy to forget the impact of color in the dull world before cheap dyes and plastics. Colors is a delightful little book, highly illustrated and packed with intriguing information. It traces the history of dyes and pigments from cave paintings to modern textiles. The book's four sections cover the uses of color in ancient times; its development and refinement in the Middle Ages; the explosion of supply and demand after the Renaissance; and the triumph of industrial chemistry in synthesizing and inventing colors. Production processes often paralleled those of alchemy, giving an almost magical quality to colors. Dyes were expensive in medieval Europe and could increase the price of a cloth tenfold; thus color was used to indicate social status, with aristocrats in bright robes standing out against the drab mob. Since antiquity, writers have compiled technical manuals on dyeing and pigment manufacture, often using more ancient texts, so that a great many antique recipes and techniques have been preserved. We learn, for example, how Indian yellow was made from a concentrated extract of the urine of cows fed exclusively on mango leaves (which was not healthy for the cows). Every page of the book has interesting tidbits of information, such as the derivation of blue jeans (from bleu de Genes, Genoa blue, a form of indigo). Clearly written and well-designed, Colors reminds us of the powerful ways color permeates our lives. --John Stevenson

Product Description

From the painted caves at Lascaux, 40,000 years old, to the medieval cloth industry to today's computerized chemistry, this engaging book surveys the history of dyes and pigments-in a work as rich, varied, and colorful as a box of crayons.

160 illustrations, 135 in full color,

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810928728
• ISBN-13: 978-0810928725
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,942 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  Books > Arts & Photography > Instructional & How-To > Using Color

• This item is part of The Abrams Discoveries: Art Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure chest of interesting trivia, October 15, 2001

By	Philipp Kessler (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a Color Manager for one of the worlds largest paint companies and even though I have been working with pigments for 15 years I have found this book to be a treasure chest of interesting trivia that I didn't know or had long forgotten.
But this book is not just for chemists. If you are like me interested in art, especially paintings, you will find that this book gives you a wealth of information and facts that one can use to better understand the development of art through the centuries.
I can highly recommend this beautifully illustrated booklet which is fun to read to everybody (not just color nerds like me).

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LOT of information packed into a deceptively small package., March 21, 2006

By	C. Good (North-Central Montana, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

_Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments_, is an excellent little book to read if you are interested in colors. It covers pre-history up through the modern era, and it discusses some of the chemistry, much of the mineralogy, and a lot of the economics & politics that went into the use of different dyes & pigments through the eons.

It is also lavishly illustrated, with many many photos, including photos of famous works of art, close-up photos showing artistic techniques, photos of artists' materials, and photos of historical treatises relating to cloth dyeing and other skills. There is a lot of good technical content, including explanations of the differences between dyes, pigments and lakes, and details of attempts in antiquity to create artificial colors, going as far back as the Egyptians.

The chapters are Painting & Dyeing, which covers paints and dyes from antiquity to the Middle Ages; Colors in the Middle Ages, which covers new technological & economic developments in the Middle Ages; The Explosion of Supply and Demand, which covers how the increased trade of the Renaissance, Enlightenment Era, and the Industrial Age drove the search for new colors; and The Triumph of Industrial Chemistry, which describes how colors are made today.

There is also a chapter titled Documents, which has excerpts from a number of historical works about dyes & pigments, and that chapter alone is worth the price of the book. The bibliography is also excellent.

It was a bit slow in places, and since it was originally written in French, there is a certain flow to the text that is subtly different from many contemporary books written by native English speakes. But, the differences are not unpleasant, and for the most part the text is very engaging.

I did notice that it repeats the statement that India Yellow was made from the concentrated urine of cows who at only mangoes, and according to Victoria Finlay in _Color: A Natural History of the Palette_, that provenance is mythical. But that was the only jarring note I found in the entire work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brief History of Color, January 22, 2009

By	Rebecca Johnson "SeasonedwithLove.com" (Washington State) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

We take colors for granted in our modern society even though they have a fascinating history. In this tiny book pictures illustrate each point making it an enjoyable and informative journey. This book discusses everything from cave paintings to artificial colors used in plastic. There are strange facts like how almost all shades of colors could be produced from plants except green. After reading this book you may also want to check labels of red foods as they could be colored with cochineal, an insect that lives on cactus plants. I've seen this coloring used in bottled fruit drinks. So while this book is really tiny it does contain lots of pictures and some interesting information like how Egyptians invented ink and glass. If you enjoy this book, you might also want to look for: Color: A Natural History of the Palette

~The Rebecca Review