Mauve (, ; , ) is a pale
purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters ...
color named after the
mallow flower (French: ''mauve''). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–98 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. Another name for the color is mallow, with the first recorded use of ''mallow'' as a color name in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
in 1611.
Mauve contains more
gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compose ...
and more
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
than a pale tint of
magenta. Many pale wildflowers called "blue" are more accurately classified as mauve. Mauve is also sometimes described as pale
violet.
Mauveine, the first commercial aniline dye
The synthetic dye mauve was first so named in 1859. Chemist
William Henry Perkin
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...
, then eighteen, was attempting in 1856 to synthesize
quinine, which was used to treat
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...
. He noticed an unexpected residue, which turned out to be the first
aniline
Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile starti ...
dye. Perkin originally named the dye
Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple ( grc, πορφύρα ''porphúra''; la, purpura), also known as Phoenician red, Phoenician purple, royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon. It is ...
after the historical dye, but the product was renamed ''mauve'' after it was marketed in 1859.
It is now usually called ''Perkin's mauve'', ''mauveine'', or ''aniline purple''.
Earlier references to a mauve dye in 1856–1858 referred to a color produced using the semi-synthetic dye
murexide
Murexide (NH4C8H4N5O6, or C8H5N5O6·NH3), also called ammonium purpurate or MX, is the ammonium salt of purpuric acid. It is a purple solid that is soluble in water. The compound was once used as an indicator reagent. Aqueous solutions are yel ...
or a mixture of natural dyes. Perkin was so successful in marketing his discovery to the dye industry that his biography by
Simon Garfield is simply entitled ''Mauve''. Between 1859 and 1861, mauve became a fashion must have. The weekly journal ''
All the Year Round'' described women wearing the colour as "all flying countryward, like so many migrating birds of purple paradise".
''Punch'' magazine published cartoons poking fun at the huge popularity of the colour: “The Mauve Measles are spreading to so serious an extent that it is high time to consider by what means
hey
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* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
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may be checked.”
But, because it faded easily, the success of mauve dye was short-lived, and by 1873 it was replaced by other synthetic dyes. As the memory of the original dye soon receded, the contemporary understanding of mauve is as a lighter, less-saturated color than it was originally known.
The 1890s are sometimes referred to in retrospect as the "''Mauve Decade''" because of the popularity of the subtle color among progressive artistic types, both in Europe and the US.
Variations
Rich mauve
The color displayed at right is the rich tone of mauve called ''mauve'' by
Crayola.
French mauve (deep mauve)
The color displayed at right is the deep tone of mauve that is called ''mauve'' b
Pourpre.com a color list widely popular in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Opera mauve
The color displayed at right is opera mauve.
The first recorded use of ''opera mauve'' as a color name in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
was in 1927.
Mauve taupe
The color displayed at right is mauve taupe.
The first recorded use of ''mauve taupe'' as a color name in English was in 1925.
Old mauve
The color displayed at right is old mauve.
The first recorded use of ''old mauve'' as a color name in English was in 1925.
The
normalized color coordinates
Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Most commonly it refers to:
* Normalization (sociology) or social normalization, the process through which ideas and behaviors that may fall outside o ...
for old mauve are identical to
wine dregs, which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1924.
[Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 207; Color Sample of Wine Dregs Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample L7]
See also
*
Shades of purple
**
Lilac (color)
Lilac is a color that is a pale violet tone representing the average color of most lilac flowers. The colors of some lilac flowers may be equivalent to the colors shown below as ''pale lilac'', ''rich lilac'', or ''deep lilac''. However, the ...
*
Malvaria (Pyroluria), from the term ''mauve factor'' in
Orthomolecular psychiatry
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Shades of pink
Shades of violet