Turkey red is a dyeing method that was widely used to give cotton a distinctive bright red colour in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was made using the root of the rubia (madder) plant, through a long and laborious process which originated in the historical

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

region, namely being developed in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Turkey red was brought to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in the 1740s and in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was known as ''rouge d'Andrinople''.

History

As the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

spread across Europe, chemists and manufacturers sought new red dyes that could be used for large-scale manufacture of textiles. One colour imported into Europe from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

in the 18th and early 19th century was

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

red, known in France as ''rouge d'Andrinople''. Turkey red used the root of the rubia (madder) plant as the colorant, but the process was long and complicated, involving multiple soaking of the fabrics in lye, olive oil, sheep's dung, and other ingredients. Turkey red fabric was more expensive but resulted in a fine bright and lasting red, similar to

carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the Cochineal, cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson Lake pigment, lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium coordination complex, compl ...

, perfectly suited to cotton, a fabric to which it had previously proven difficult to affix dye. Aiding the colouring of Turkey red was the discovery of mordants in India; mordants create a bond between dyestuffs and fibres, and the volume of mordant applied to fibres impacts the strength of hue which the fibre or cloth takes on. The Turkey red technique was used to dye and produce plain woven cotton cloths, which could also be used as a base for printing, using wooden blocks, copper plates, and/or cylindrical printing methods. Turkey red achieved its popularity as a natural dye for several reasons, namely that it was colourfast – it did not fade in light or when washed, and did not transfer colour to other fabrics, proving that completed fabrics could be used in both clothing and furnishing. Beginning in the 1740s, this bright red colour was used to dye and print cotton textiles in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Scotland, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

. Turkey red fabric, while retailed in Europe, was widely created for the export market, traded from Europe to India,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and America, often to the detriment of the local economy, trade, and artisans. Designs were often appropriated and cheaply retailed. In 19th-century America, Turkey red was widely used in making traditional patchwork

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of padding, batting or w ...

s.John Wilson, ''An Essay on Light and Colours'', Manchester, 1786. Pg. 21-22.

Turkey red and Scotland

The Turkey red dyeing technique was introduced to Scotland by French chemist Pierre Jacques Papillon. Papillon, working with dyer George Macintosh and David Dale, founded in 1785 the first Turkey red dyeworks in Dalmarnock, Scotland. Harnessing the business potential of the growing Turkey red market, numerous manufacturers also established their bleachfields, dyeworks and printworks in the Vale of Leven, as well as at several sites around

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. At this time, the Vale of Leven, further up the river from Dalmarnock, was already the site of several bleachfields and printworks, and with ready supply of clean water from the river Leven, it was well suited to such production as Turkey red. The Vale of Leven became synonymous with Turkey red, recognised as a centre of production in the 1820s.

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

remained a key British competitor of the Turkey red industry in Scotland, and with expansion of production in India towards the end of the 19th century, the Scottish Turkey red trade was further challenged. However, the profitability of production in Scotland endured. Amalgamation of the industry-leading Archibald Orr Ewing and Co., John Orr Ewing and Co., and William Stirling and Sons established the United Turkey Red Company Ltd in 1898, which continued to produce and trade until 1961, marking the end of the Turkey red industry in the Vale of Leven.

The Process

The process of dyeing cotton Turkey red, as it was practiced in Turkey in the 18th century, was described in a text by a Manchester dyer in 1786: *1. Boil cotton in lye of

Barilla ''Barilla'' refers to several species of salt-tolerant (halophyte) plants that, until the 19th century, were the primary source of soda ash and hence of sodium carbonate. The word "barilla" was also used directly to refer to the soda ash obtain ...

or wood ash *2. Wash and dry *3. Steep in a liquor of Barilla ash or soda plus sheep's dung and olive oil *4. Rinse, let stand 12 hours, dry *5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 three times. *6. Steep in a fresh liquor of Barilla ash or soda, sheep's dung, olive oil and white argol (potassium tartrate). *7. Rinse and dry *8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 three times. *9. Treat with gall nut solution *10. Wash and dry *11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 once. *12. Treat with a solution of alum, or alum mixed with ashes and Saccharum Saturni (lead acetate). *13. Dry, wash, dry. *14. Madder once or twice with Turkey madder to which a little sheep's blood is added. *15. Wash *16. Boil in a lye made of soda ash or the dung liquor *17. Wash and dry.

Notes

References

*Sarah Lowengard (2006), ''The Creation of Color in 18th Century Europe'',Columbia University Press. (www.gutenberg-e.org/lowengard).

External links