Dyeing for Color: Adventures in Historic Dyes: 2013

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Viking Age Dyes: Biblography

· Barber, E. J. W.. Prehistoric Textiles: the Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991. Print.

· Bingham, Gayle. "Woad Dyeing." Medieval Textiles 1.29 (2001): 1-3. Print.

· Coatsworth, Elizabeth. "Stitches in Time: Establishing a History of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery." Medieval Clothing and Textiles 1 (2005): 1-27. Print.

· Ewing, Thor. " ‘í litklæðum’ Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology." Thor Ewing. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2013. <http://thorewing.net/articles/colouredclothing/>.

· Ewing, Thor. Viking Clothing. Repr. ed. Stroud: History Press, 2009. Print.

· Geijer, Agnes. A History of Textile Art. London: Pasold Research Fund in association with Sotheby Parke Bernet; 1979. Print.

· Geijer, Agnes. "The Textile Finds from Birka." Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe: Essays in Memory of Professor E.M. Carus-Wilson.
London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1983. 80-99. Print.

· Grape, Wolfgang. The Bayeux Tapestry. Munich: Prestel, 1994. Print.

· Grierson, Su. The Colour Cauldron. Perth: S. Grierson, 1986. Print.

· Hägg, Inga, and Gertrud Nyberg. Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu. Neumünster: K. Wachholtz, 1984. Print.

· Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: a Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark, 1980. Print.

· Heckett, Elizabeth. Viking Age Headcoverings from Dublin. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2003. Print.

· Hedeager Krag, Anne. "Dress and Fashion in Denmark's Viking Age." Northern Archaeological Textiles: NESAT VII; Textile Symposium in Edinburgh, 5th-7th May 1999.
Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2005. 29-35. Print.

· Leggett, William F.. Ancient and Medieval Dyes. 1944. Reprint. Landisville: Coachwhip, 2009. Print.

· McKenna, Nancy. "Madder Dyeing." Medieval Textiles 1.29 (2001): 3-5. Print.

· Nockert, Margareta. The Högom Find and other Migration Period Textiles and Costumes in Scandinavia: Högom Part II. Umeå, Sweden: University of Umeå, Dept. of Archaeology, 1991. Print.

· Ostrom Peters, Cathy. "The Silk Road Textiles at Birka: AN Examination of the Tabletwoven Bands." Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings 1 (2002):
Paper 408. Print.

· Priest-Dorman, Carolyn. "Viking Age Dyestuffs." Computer Science Departmental Wiki @ Vassar College [Computer Science @Vassar College]. N.p., n.d.
Web. 2 Oct. 2013. <http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikdyes.html>.

· Priest-Dorman, Carolyn. "Trade Cloaks: Icelandic Supplementary Weft Pile Textiles." Medieval Textiles 28 (2001): 8-14. Print.

· Priest-Dorman, Carolyn. "A Grass that Grows in Bologna: Dyeing with Weld." Medieval Textiles 29 (2001): 1, 6-8. Medieval Textiles Archives. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.

· Sandberg, Gösta. The Red Dyes: Cochineal, Madder, and Murex Purple : a World Tour of Textile Techniques. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 1997. Print.

· Taylor, G.W.. "Detection and Identification of Dyes on Anglo-Scandinavian Textiles." Studies in Conservation 28 (1983): 23-26. Print.

· Taylor, G.W.. "On the Nature of Dyeings with Madder and Related Dyestuffs." Dyes in History and Archaeology 9 (1990): 23-26. Print.

· Tomlinson, Philippa. "Use of Vegetative Remains in the Identification of Dyeplants from Waterlogged 9th-10th Century AD Deposits at York."
Journal of Archaeological Science 12 (1985): 269-283. Print.

· Walton-Rogers, Penelope. "Dyes and Wools in Iron Age Textiles from Norway and Denmark." Journal of Danish Archaeology 7 (1988): 144-158. Print.

· Walton-Rogers, Penelope. Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. London: Published for the York Trust by the Council for British Archaeology, 1989. Print.

· Walton-Rogers, Penelope. Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate. York: Published for the York Archaeological Trust by Council for British Archaeology, 1997. Print.

· Walton-Rogers, Penelope. Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England, AD 450-700. York: Council for British Archaeology, 2007. Print.

Viking Age Dyes: A Brief Overview

Viking Age Dyes: A Brief Overview

So who were the Vikings?

When we speak about “Vikings” often a barrage of modern stereotypes come to mind. For the purpose of this article, however, we will be discussing the dyes used by Scandinavian peoples who lived from approximately 800 to 1100. Geographically, they lived throughout Northern Europe in what we now call Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Northern Germany. Viking settlements were also to be found along the coasts and river-ways of Ireland, the British Isles, Scotland, Iceland, and the Baltic.

Colorants, and mordants, and modifiers oh my!

There is evidence of purposeful dyeing dating back to some of the earliest textile finds. (Barber, 1991) In order to understand the range of colors available historically, it’s important to understand a little bit about how dyes work. There are several different types of natural dyes. Some are really just staining the fiber. These are temporary, or fugitive. Other dyes are more permanent. These can be divided into two main groups; substantive dyes and adjective dyes. Substantive dyes are chemically fixed to the fiber without the need for additional chemicals. Adjective dyes aren’t able to fully fix to the fiber without the assistance of another substance such as; alum, iron, or tannin. These substances are usually metal based and are called mordants.

The final color result can be tweaked depending on the mordants used or by changing the chemical reaction slightly using substances like calcium carbonate, cream of tartar, and ammonia to adjust factors such as the dye bath pH. These substances are called modifiers. Temperature can also be a factor in the final color—many dyes need to stay within a certain temperature range for the colorant to be released. The range of colors produced can be expanded through the use of over-dyeing as well. This involves dyeing with one dye and then taking that fiber and dyeing it again with another color. Finally, the fiber itself can affect the color outcome. Not all fiber is white in its natural state. Grey or tan fibers will give you a different result than white or off-white. Wools, silks, and linen also absorb dyes differently. Linen, for example, is notoriously difficult to dye.

They wore color? But everything looks brown!

One of the challenges of researching period dyes, especially from this era, is that we have scant source material to work with. Contemporary depictions are stylized and generally not in color. Records were kept through oral tradition, so any written descriptions are either through the lens of Arab travelers, monks recounting raids, or recorded centuries later. What we do have is some archeological evidence in the form of both preserved dyestuffs and textiles. It’s important to remember that this evidence is by no means comprehensive. They almost certainly used wayside plants we are unable to identify. Only a small sampling of textiles and dyestuff survived, and many of those textiles are stained and discolored by the soil in which they were found. Some dyes—especially the yellow ones, are almost impossible to identify using current techniques or were fugitive and have long since disappeared from the textile. (Taylor 1983, Walton-Rogers 1988) So with all of these challenges how do we know what we do about which dyes were used?

The dye identification process is actually some pretty cool science. Chemists used various types of chromatography to isolate the residual dye chemicals and then compared the color spectrums they left to known dye sample spectrums. (Taylor 1983, Walton-Rogers 1988) They were even able to draw conclusions about the shades based on the level of dye chemical found. Mordants are a bit trickier to identify because they can be confused with minerals from soil deposits and their position and density in the soil around the finds would need to be analyzed to positively identify common modifiers such as iron. (Taylor 1983)

In addition to the dyes identified on extant textiles, archaeologists have also discovered plant material in contexts such as workshops that suggest their use as dyestuffs. Seeds, roots, flowers, and stems from a variety of dye plants including woad, weld, madder, walnut, heather, and broom have been discovered at a variety of Viking Age sites. The plants were identified by archaeobotanists using a vareity of methods including chemical analysis and even distinctive dermal patterns (Stoma for the win!) observed under a dissecting microscope! (Tomlinson 1985)

Ok, so what colors did they use?

As laid out in Table 1, we know that reds, blues, yellows, purples, pinks, oranges, greens, and browns could be achieved using dyestuffs that have been identified either as plant material found in a dye context or on an extant Viking Age textile using chromatography. We do have some positive chemical evidence of mordants being used, and this greatly widens the available color palette. Fibers that were naturally brown or grey would also give a greater variety of achievable colors, and the chromatography process has positively identified several examples of overdyeing, or textiles dyed with more than one dye. The unidentified dye referred to as Yellow-X, for example, was only detected because the indigotin came off of the textile differently in some instances. (Walton-Rogers 1988) This happened because the indigotin was on a textile that also had a mordanted dye applied—the textile had been overdyed. The Vikings got creative with their color use too. We have examples of woad blue stripes being dyed over madder and diamond twill being woven with a heavily saturated woad blue warp and an off white weft-- thus giving the effect of blue diamonds on an off white field. (Walton-Rogers 1988)

Because Viking settlements and trade routes covered such a wide geographic area, they had access to dyes that are not native to Scandinavia—both in the form of pre-dyed imported textiles and imported dyestuffs. Some dyes, such as Polish cochineal and kermes were only found on textiles whose context suggest that they were imported. (Taylor 1983, Nockert 1991) The fact that Viking Age Scandinavians lived over such a widespread geographical area also meant that they had access to different native dyestuffs. There is evidence to suggest regional differences in color usage. For example the Anglo-Scandinavians lived in a climate where madder could be grown rather than just imported, and proportionally a larger number of items dyed with madder were found there. Thus, Anglo-Scandinavian finds tend towards reds and oranges. Norwegian and Danish examples tend towards blues from woad, and Irish examples tend towards purples from lichens. (Nockert 1991, Walton-Rogers 1988, Ewing 2013)

In conclusion, we have archaeological evidence that establishes a strong tradition for dyed textiles throughout Scandinavian settlements during the Viking Age. There appear to have been regional preferences in the choice of dyestuffs, but items dyed with weld, woad, and madder have been found throughout the Scandinavian settlements. The availability of the three primary colors as well as the use of over-dyeing and the textiles natural color variations would have given Viking Age dyers a large palette to choose from.

Table 1: Viking Age Dyes *
Dyestuff		Common Name	Chemical Colorant	Color/Colors Given	Archeological Evidence Found	Geographic Location
Isatis tinctoria		Woad	Indigotin	Blues, Greens	Seeds, Wool, Linen, Silk	Norway, Denmark, York, Sweden, Dublin
Reseda luteola		Weld, Dyer’s Rocket	Luteolin	Yellows, Golds	Seeds, Silks	York, Sweden
Rubia tinctorum		Madder	Alizarin, Pseudopurpurin, Purpurin	Oranges, Reds	Plant Remains, Wool, Silks, Linen	Norway, York, Denmark, Sweden, Dublin
Galium boreale, Galium verum, Galium aparine		Bedstraw, Lady’s Bedstraw	Alizarin, asperuloside	Reds, Yellows	Wool	Norway, Denmark
Juglans regia		Walnut	Juglone, Tannin, Plumbagin	Browns, tans	Wool, Plant Material	Norway, Denmark
Xanthoria parietina, Rocella tinctoris		Wall Lichen	Orecin	Yellows, tans, Reds, Purples	Wool, Silk	Dublin
Ochrolechia tartarea		Orchil Lichens	Orecin	Purples/Pinks	Wool	York, Northern Germany, Dublin
Calluna vulgaris		Heather		Yellow	Plant Material	York
Genista tinctoria		Broom, Dyer’s Greenwood, Woadwaxen		Yellow	Plant Material	York
Nucella lapillus		Dog Whelk	Dibromoindigo	Tyrian Purple	Silks, Shells in Dye Workshop	Ireland
Kermes vermilio		Kermes	Kermesic Acid	Reds	Silks, Wool Tunic	Norway, York
Porphyrophora polonica		Polish Cochineal	Carminic Acid	Reds	Silks	Norway, Sweden
Yellow X- always found with indigotin		? Dyes eliminated include: Weld, Broom, and Heather	?	Green (Because always found with indigotin. Dye itself produced a yellow.)		Norway, Denmark
Mordants & Modifiers most likely used	Alum -We have archeological evidence for clubmoss (Diphasium complanatum, Lycopodium complanatum) which is a likely source of alum. Iron- Most likely through the dyepot Copper - Most likely through bronze dyepots Tannin- Perhaps from Oak Galls Calcium Carbonate (Think shells or Coccolithophores.) *This table is a work in progress

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Playing with Viking Age Dyes: Weld, Madder, and Woad

Playing with Weld, Madder, and Woad...

As part of the upcoming dye class series at Great Western War, I'm going to be teaching a section on Viking Age Dyes. After doing some research into which dyes we could definitively document as having been used, we settled on weld, woad, and madder as the ones we would use for the class. My dye buddies and I had played with madder before, but never with weld or woad, so we decided this called for a day of experimentation! I was extremely pleased with the results we got.

My yarn from the day

I had limited string to work with, so I mostly stuck with single dyes. The green was created with a weld/woad exhaust over-dye. The madder had not been previously soaked, so we ended up with some very pretty oranges. Our next dye day, we plan on using the same madder root to create a new pot. This should give us red, but I guess we'll have to wait and see! You can see that the blue we achieved is closer to a cornflower than the color we get from indigo. We also noticed that the oxidation process occurred more slowly than with indigo. You could see the color start to change a little when you pulled it out, but really you needed to walk away from it and let the blue develop. Another surprise was the light green that the woad pot became.

Some of the blues and greens we achieved using woad and a weld with woad overdye

Aldgytha's skeins from the day-- they included silk, natural wool,
and some commercially dyed yellow wool.

These pictures give you a better idea of the range of colors we got that day. Aldgytha's skeins are in the bottom photo. She had both silks and wools, as well as some commercially dyed yellow wool. We were surprised to see that the silks were not taking the colors as deeply as the wools because everything we had heard said that silks take color really well. We also had some interesting experiences with the commercially dyed yellow wool. We pre-mordanted everything using alum, and during that process the yellow dye leached from the yarn giving the other skeins a slight base yellow. Who knew? She was was able to get some really striking greens using that yellow and the woad exhaust.

Flavia was able to do some actual teaching that day (as opposed to herding cats demo style) and it was ah-maze-ing! I got to set up the pots on my own after going through the directions step-by-step and taking notes. We cheated a little bit by using weld extract and powdered woad instead of using the leaves or setting up a fermentation vat, but there will be time to play with that at a later date.

Madder

The madder was pretty straightforward. As previously stated, this was a first soak for the madder, so the colors we got were more on the orange side. Soaking the madder root leaches out the yellows allowing the red to come through on a second pot. To leach out the yellow, soak the madder root for at least 24 hours in warm water. Use a knee high pantyhose to keep the root from getting tangled in your fiber. The ratio is about 1/2 gallon water to a 1 oz bag of root. To dye with this you simply bring it to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. If you are using wool, it should be mordanted with alum.

Madder pot simmering

Weld

We used a weld extract to create the pot that day. According to Flavia, extracts would have been used in period and were created by boiling down a dyepot to concentrate the dyestuff. The resulting goo was then spread out and dried. This would then be saved for later use, maybe adding a smidge of alum to the mixture.

Weld striking- this is a dye where
the color takes immediately.
Soaking longer does not add to the color gained.

To use the extract was extremely simple- we simply added it to a pot of boiling water. We ended up dyeing some skeins just with the extract, and got a yellow more on the goldenrod side. Then we added 3 tbsp of soda ash for 1 1/2 gallons of dye vat. It really brightened the yellow up!

The goldenrod color we got before we added the soda ash.

Weld after adding soda ash to the pot.

Woad

Of the three dyes we used that day, woad was the one that by far required the most thought. We used Su Grierson's book The Colour Cauldron as our reference text for setting up the vat. This was especially cool because she's the dyer who did most of the consultations with the archaeologists analyzing the extant Viking Age textiles and dyestuffs! If you will be dyeing with woad or indigo make sure you use dedicated pots and utensils- you don't want to end up corrupting your other dye pots! Any fibers should be water saturated-- this will open up the fibers and help the dye penetrate better. You'll want to leave fiber in the pot for at least 4 minutes, longer if you want a deeper color. (Don't leave it overnight, though because the thiox will eat your fiber!) You can also do more than one dip with the same fiber. Do not add more fiber than the vat will hold unconstrained. You can spread the dye by manipulating the fiber with your hands, but make sure you put gloves on first. If you are dying wool, make sure you don't agitate the fiber too vigorously because it will felt. Woad is a substantive dye, so it doesn't necessarily need mordanted fiber, but everything we used had been premordanted in alum.

Silk scarf dyed with woad after oxidizing
(The initial green can be seen below.)

The most important thing to remember when using either woad or indigo is to:

Dip- Dip your fiber
Rest- Let the fiber sit for at least 15 minutes before rinsing. This is key to the oxidation process-- especially with woad!
Rinse- Use clean warm water, you can also add a drop of orvious wash. This helps get rid of excess dye and avoid crocking.

Once the fiber has been rinsed, soak it in cold water overnight to help set the color.

Wool resting after being dyed with woad

You can see the wool beginning to turn blue under the scarf. The scarf
is still oxidizing- it has only been dyed with woad.

Vat Preparation

Start 1 gallon of water heating in a dye pot, but do not let it boil. We attached a candy thermometer so we could monitor the temperature.
Place the woad powder in a small dish and stir in a little water a time until you have a paste that's about the same consistency as toothpaste. Set this aside.

Creating the woad paste
In another container (We used an empty glass jar.) Dissolve 2 ounces of soda ash in boiling water, stirring to dissolve it.

Making the soda ash solution
Slowly add the paste to the soda ash solution and stir until mixed.

Adding the woad paste to the soda ash solution
This "whole mess," as Flavia called it, then is added to the dye pot. At this point turn the heat way down-- you can actually even take the pot of the stove. Turn the stove off if the vat temperature starts to go over 100 degrees F.

Adding the mixture to the dye pot
Now comes the chemistry fun! The woad vat needs to be deoxygenated, and 1 oz of thiox sprinkled over the top and left to sit is just the ticket. (Sodium dithionite works too, we substitute thiox because it is a tad safer.)
Now it's time for some patience. You leave the vat stand for 20 minutes as tempting as it may be to play with it! You should see some really neat foaming from the chemical reaction as the vat develops. :)

The woad vat developing...

After 20 minutes stir in 1 more oz of thiox, and let it sit for 10 more minutes before dyeing.

Stirring in the second batch of thiox- look how foamy it got!

Overdyeing

One of the fun things we tried was creating a green by overdyeing some of the yellow we got with the weld with a woad exhaust. It's important to overdye the lighter color rather than dying with woad and then weld because the blue will corrupt the yellow dyepot. You also want to use an exhaust so that you don't overwhelm the yellow. To create an exhaust scoop a cup of the dyebath and place in into another pot. Then dilute it slightly with water. We just played around until it looked like we were getting the color we wanted. I'd start out more diluted and then add more dye liquid if you would like it darker. We were rather surprised by how green the exhaust turned. Woad seems to have more of an underlying lime color than has been our experience with indigo.