William F. Leggett’s classic text, Ancient and Medieval Dyes, is an informative and easy-to-read introduction to the most common animal and vegetable dyes used before the introduction of synthetic chemical dyes. “Trade in dyestuffs began as soon as the sources of one district were recognized as superior to those used in another district, and, ultimately, this led to the elimination of many of the anciently used dyestuffs, so that of the many hundreds of original primitive dyes only a few survived to ancient and medieval times. The most important of these, divided into vegetable, animal, and mineral groups, are discussed in this book.”—Introduction

A Heritage of Colour explores the techniques that can be used to create a wealth of colours from 50 plants, including many that have been in constant use as dyes for over 2000 years. Inspired by the colours on textile fragments from the Iron Age and by the achievements of early dyers, the author describes some of the dyes and methods of the past and considers how they can be adapted for use by today's dyers. The book covers all the basics of natural dyeing and explains in detail how to experiment with local plants, wherever you may live, to produce a wide range of beautiful, rich colours on textile fibres. A Heritage of Colour also includes sections on dyeing with fungi, contact printing on cloth and dyeing multi-coloured fibres and fabrics. The emphasis throughout is on environmentally-friendly methods and on the thrill of personal discovery through practical experience. Follow Jenny's blog on http://www.jennydean.co.uk/

Chronicles the history of dyes and pigments and their related industries, discussing colors in the Middle Ages; the explosion of supply and demand in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries; and advances in industrial chemistry.

With essays by Monica Bethe, Mary M Dusenbury, Shih-shan Susan Huang, Ikumi Kaminishi, Guolong Lai, Richard Laursen, Liu Jian and Zhao Feng, Chika Mouri, Park Ah-rim, Hillary Pedersen, Lisa Shekede and Su Bomin, Sim Yeon-ok and Lee Seonyong, Tanaka Yoko, and Zhao Feng and Long Bo Color was a critical element in East Asian life and thought, but its importance has been largely overlooked in Western scholarship. This interdisciplinary volume explores the fascinating roles that color played in the society, politics, thought, art, and ritual practices of ancient and medieval East Asia (ca. 1600 B.C.E.-ca. 1400 C.E.). While the Western world has always linked color with the spectrum of light, in East Asian civilizations colors were associated with the specific plant or mineral substances from which they were derived. Many of these substances served as potent medicines and elixirs, and their transformative powers were extended to the dyes and pigments they produced. Generously illustrated, this groundbreaking publication constitutes the first inclusive study of color in East Asia. It is the outcome of years of collaboration between chemists, conservators, archaeologists, historians of art and literature, and scholars of Buddhism and Daoism from the United States, East Asia, and Europe.

"In The Meaning of Color in Ancient Mesopotamia, Shiyanthi Thavapalan offers the first in-depth study of the words and expressions for colors in the Akkadian language (c. 2500-500 BCE). By combining philological analysis with the technical investigation of materials, she debunks the misconception that people in Mesopotamia had a limited sense of color and convincingly positions the development of Akkadian color language as a corollary of the history of materials and techniques in the ancient Near East"--