The world of colored textile
The world of colored textile
A short history
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Coloring fabric played a fundamental role in the production of expensive textiles. consequently, dyers capable of producing the best quality of these colors could become extremely wealthy.
A Dyer’s manual is a notebook in which a master dyer would write down it’s knowledge in the art of dyeing. These books were often passed from generation to generation and formed one of the most valuable assets of a whole enterprise. They were meant exclusively for a limited number of key workers to be seen and often transmitted to the next generation of dyers.
The book was supposed to be at all times within the company, and the loss or theft of such a manuscript could signify the loss of the secrets to the success of the dyer. Therefore such books were often kept secret, and sometimes (especially in older times) even made utilizable only by the people who had direct insights into the practices. This was done for example by using certain codes of language or by adding/excluding parts to the recipes.
Because of this and of the very specific use these manuals had, only very few have survived. Making this manuscript even more exceptional is the fact that it contains more than 100 samples colored with the techniques, which gives us a direct testimony of the work of the dyer and allows us to experiment and re-create those techniques.
This specific recipe book was compiled in Antwerp between 1778 and 1802, by a smaller dyer located in the dyer’s quarter (Verversrui) of the city, close to today’s oude leeuwenrui. This location has been identified through a small map contained in the manuscript and different references contained in the manuscript.
This is a crucial timeframe for the history of the Southern Netherlands, these years, mark the passage from the Austrian influence to the French revolutionary one, which surely had a big impact on the socio-political situation in the region. Going from a stable growth climate to an unstable recession due to the new competition.
Location of the dyer
Location of the dyer
Figure 1: Map showing the position of the dyer within the manuscript
Figure 1: Map showing the position of the dyer within the manuscript
Figure 2: Map from the city archive of Antwerp(1800)
Figure 2: Map from the city archive of Antwerp(1800)
The same elements were noted down in both maps, giving us the necessary elements to locate the dyer in the city walls.
1) Tuchthuis 2)Spanish huis 3) Hanseatic house 4) Property of Blommaert family
Figure 3: Same area in today's map
Figure 3: Same area in today's map
Even though most of the elements are not there anymore, some still bear the same name. Most relevant one during the identification was the Oude Leeuwenrui, which today still exists within the city street network.
A wool specialist
A wool specialist
Every kind of fiber is different, plant (cotton, flax, hemp...) and animal fibers (wool, silk..) react differently to dyes, needing different kinds of preparation and demanding some degree of specialization to obtain the best results.
As a result, a dyer would tend to specialize in one kind of fabric. The writer, in this case, specializes in wool, covering about 90% of the recipes. The other 10% of the recipes were meant for cotton.
The samples mirror this trend, confirming the hypothesis formulated while reading the recipes.
Figure 4:
Recipe to dye fire color with woolen samples attached
Recipe to dye fire color with woolen samples attached
This recipe describes all the steps going from an uncolored piece of woolen fabric up to the washing and cleaning once the fabric is dyed. Every dyer had secrets and procedures, these would not often be shared with other people. The attached samples are useful references, for the dyer himself. These samples were often also bundled and sent to potential buyers as a catalog.
Accounting notes, the footprint of a small enterprise
Accounting notes, the footprint of a small enterprise
Figure 5: Page with names, reporting the open tabs in a moment in time.
Other than the recipes, the manuscript also comprehends other kinds of testimonies related to the dyer's enterprise.
A whole section of these form the accounting notes, where we find orders, open tabs, value of products, and cost of materials.
Based on this category of data we were able via confrontation with other manuscripts, to determine the scale of the manufacturer. Most likely this is the footprint of a smaller local enterprise; the largest single open tab we find on the left accounts for 643 gulders, which would translate to about 5000 euros in today's currency. Industrial-scale manufacturers like the Crutcheley in England had open tabs sometimes 60-70 times bigger than this one (around 350 000 euros).
Figure 6:
‘Voor twee Akensaeyen wegen ordinair 30 pont is de twee 60 pont, neem daer voor 10 pont geel aut en twee pont proventie aut, 5 pont alluyn en dan de gemalen indigo met vitriool geprepareert’
‘For two, as akensaeys weigh usually 30 pounds, the two of them weigh 60 pounds, for that, take 10
pound of yellow wood and two pound of provence wood, 5 pound allum and than the grinded indigo prepared with vitriol’
Another element supporting this hypothesis originates from some of the orders, as exemplified above. This is an order for 13 kerseys (a rougher type of woolen fabric), which is the most sizeable order we find within the manuscript, and it accounts for about 160 kg of dyed textile. Again, compared to industrial-scale production like Antoine Jeanot's enterprise, 160kg worth of product would be the smallest amount that the company would sell. So we were able to conclude we were looking at the records of a smaller enterprise that served mainly local customers.
References:
Figures 1-4-5-6: Map, recipe to dye Fire red, and accounting notes from the Antwerp manuscript
Figure 2: Map of Antwerp ca. 1800, Felix archive – city archive Antwerp, Oudeleeuwenrui 29, 2000 Antwerp
Figure 3: Oudeleeuwenrui, Antwerp, Google Maps
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