Costume colour held special significance in Chinese history. This thesis pioneers the multi-perspective exploration of dyes in high-status costume and textiles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties using the dual approach of history and chemistry.

Through the examination and comparison of four important historical manuscripts of dye recipes (Chapter 1) and dyes in high-status historical and archaeological textiles (Chapter 4), dyes and dyeing techniques used during the Ming and Qing Dynasties are revealed. Results show that nine natural dyes were commonly used, and synthetic dyes were used from the late 19th century. Dyes were used according to specific rules to obtain various shades. Further research improves the understanding of some of the textiles including better knowledge of ownership and more accurate dating, as well as the role of dyeing in the social and global contexts (Chapter 4). 

Meanwhile, the botanical provenance, names and preferences for the significant dyes in Chinese textile history are clarified for the first time (Chapter 2). A database for the chemical composition of 22 reference Chinese dyes using Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with Photodiode array detector and Mass spectrometer (UHPLC-PDA-MS) and UHPLC-PDA is first established, and the understanding of the chemical constituents of several dyes is improved. The investigation of dyes and dyeing techniques of the Li minority group in Hainan Province marks the start of the chemical research of ethnographic dyeing in China (Chapter 3). The accelerated light ageing study of reference dyes improves the knowledge of the lightfastness of the dyes. Suggestions on the conservation, preservation and exhibition of the dyes are provided (Chapter 5).

This research contributes significantly to dyeing history, textile history and colour history both of China and the world.

The historical and chemical investigation of dyes in high status Chinese costume and textiles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911)

The use of inert gases for displaying sensitive objects and for the treatment of artifacts infected with bio-deteriorating agents is a current practice in many cultural institutions around the world. However, some artifacts may also experience color changes as a result of exposure to light in these reducing environments. Therefore, it becomes essential to evaluate the light stability of an object under anoxic conditions prior to its exhibition. This study dealt with the development of a procedure based on micro-fading spectroscopy to determine the light fastness of materials when exposed to an argon atmosphere. The efficacy of this method has been tested using turmeric/silk and Prussian blue/silk systems. Evaluation of color changes in real time have demonstrated that the approach provides an efficient way of detecting any potential variation occurring as a result of long-term anoxic display in a museum environment.

The Use of Micro-Fading Spectrometry to Evaluate the Light Fastness of Materials in Oxygen-Free Environments

In the seventeenth century, when brilliantly coloured Indian painted and printed cotton textiles reached Europe they became very popular. Due to the large volume of imported textiles, local wool and silk producers became concerned and they petitioned for strict regulations. In France, legislation was introduced that banned import and local production of printed cotton textiles from 1688 to 1759. This thesis looks at how the knowledge of printing cotton in the Indian manner reached Europe and how it was implemented by the French textile industry, especially at Jean-Michel Haussmann’s establishment in Logelbach outside Colmar in Alsace and Christophe-Philippe Oberkamf’s establishment in Jouy-en-Josas outside Versailles. In the eighteenth century France did not have a textile printers’ guild to restrain the introduction of the Indian method or stop the impact from contemporary scientists whose research was adapted and used to benefit the industry. I investigate the co-operation between craftsmen and

Fashionable Chemistry: The History of Printing Cotton in France in the Second Half of the Eighteenth and First Decades of the Nineteenth Century

The Sacred and the Modern: The History, Conservation, and Science of the Madina Sitara

The identities of 18 dyes whose names begin with "Victoria" are described using their chemical structures, names and numerical identifiers. All are synthetic dyes originally synthesized in Germany during the late 19th century as colorants for textiles. Brief manufacturing details are included. All the colors of the rainbow are represented except indigo. Unusual properties including explosive tendency or toxicity are noted. Some of the applications as stains and for food coloring, anti-obesity medication and pigments for ball pen inks also are discussed.

Quirks of dye nomenclature. 12. Victoria's rainbow.

THE present work consists of three volumes, two of letterpress, interspersed with illustrations of plant, which run to over 900 pages, and a third volume containing specimens of dyed fabrics. It is a substantial contribution to an important branch of technology, and the authors have succeeded fairly well in meeting the requirements of the various classes of readers for whose use the work has been written. The first general impression produced on looking through the volumes is one of satisfaction that the subject is handled in a more scientific way than has hitherto been the case in such works. The only feeling of disappointment to which the consideration of the book gives rise is in no way attributable to the authors, but is due to the circumstance that so little is known about the scientific relationship between a colouring-matter and the fabric which is dyed thereby. All that is known about the theory of dyeing is ably stated in the introductory chapter, and one of the authors (Dr. Knecht) has himself made some very interesting investigations in this field. But, in spite of all that has been written, the subject of dyeing has still to be taught as an art rather than as a science. The centres of the tinctorial industry in this country, such as Leeds, Manchester, Bradford, and Huddersfield, are now provided with Technical Schools, in which the dyeing department is made a special feature. If we might venture to offer a word of advice to those who are providing for this industry, it is that adequate provision should be made for the scientific side of the subject by the equipment of laboratories and the appointment of competent specialists for carrying on original investigation in connection with dyeing. The dyeing departments in those schools which we have had the opportunity of visiting are admirably equipped for instruction in the principles of the art, but the instructor has to devote so much time to this part of the work, and the students who attend are, as a rule, so ill-prepared in general scientific training that the instruction given cannot rise much above that handicraft level against which the writer has had so frequently to protest in connection with other branches of technology. Till this defect is remedied, the results achieved by our technical schools will not be commensurate with the endowment bestowed upon their equipment. A Manual of Dyeing: for the use of Practical Dyers, Manufacturers, Students, and all interested in the Art of Dyeing. By Edmund Knecht Christopher Rawson Richard Loewenthal (London: Charles Griffin and Co., 1893.)

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R. Meldola

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A Manual of Dyeing: for the use of Practical Dyers, Manufacturers, Students, and all interested in the Art of Dyeing