When I do my washing, I have noticed rather than split my
clothes into lights and darks like most people, I split it into purples and
non-purples. Purple is one of my favourite colours, however had I been born a
few centuries earlier, I would never have been allowed to wear the colour. For millennia, purple was only accessible to the exceedingly wealthly. This post is the
first in a series of colour in clothing, and will provide a whistle stop tour
of how purple has been used throughout history.
Some of the aarliest references to the colour purple used in
clothing are from Mesopotamia. The Assyrian King Ashurnirsirpal II lists
getting ‘red-purple wool’ in his tribute from neighbouring kingdoms. This red-purple
dye came from the coast of the Mediterranean, and was harvested from a type of
sea snail native to the levantine coast, particularly Tyre, giving it it's name 'Tyrian Purple'. It took 9,000 snails to produce just one gram of
dye, and so the colour purple was incredibly expensive. It was only really
affordable to the very wealthy or royalty, which is the beginnings of its
association with royalty even today. At this point, the colour purple and red
are hard to distinguish, due to the similarlities in the dye colours. The
Spartans would wear red-purple cloaks, to intimidate their enemies, as the cost
of Laconia (the region of Greece Sparta is in) also had the sea snails, and
wearing expensive red cloaks was seen as a display of wealth and power to their
enemies.
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| Not that I am saying the film 300 was accurate, but at least they wore red cloaks |
In the Roman empire, the colour purple was still associated
with royalty in clothing. In Rome itself, only the emperor was allowed to wear
a robe in purple, though senators tunics had a purple border. Purple worn by
the royal family in Rome continued for hundreds of years, the Emperor Justinian
is depicted in Tyrian purple nearly a century after the fall of the Roman
empire. In Rome's successor, the Byzantine empire, purple became symnonmous with the royal
family, with Princes and Princesses born in the Blachernae palace receiving the
title 'Porphryogennetos' meaning ‘born in the purple’
The fall of Rome did disrupt the transportation of purple
dye throughout Europe. After the 600s, when the Arabians conquered the Levantine
coast, Constantinople became the last center of Tyrian purple production in Europe,
meaning it only became more expensive and prized. There were alternatives, by
mixing wode and red dye a purple could be produced for clothing, and some
Sacndinvian lichen was also used to create a similar colour. Tyrian purple was
by far the preferred dye however, as it did not fade, but grew brighter in the
sun. When Constantinople was conquered in 1453, Europe was cut off from the
dye, only increasing its value when it could be bought.
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| The Early Byzantine Emperor Justinian in a purple cloak |
The association between purple clothing and wealth is
particularly highlighted by the Elizabethan sumptuary laws. Elizabeth I banned
purple to be worn by anyone except the royal family themselves, in an attempt
to codify the rules governing social class. The British monarchy also adopted
purple as a mourning colour, Elizabeth herself owning a purple dress lined with
ermine to be worn when in mourning. Purple was much more striking than the
traditional black, and so further separated the monarchy from the populace. In
1660, Samuel Pepys recorded seeing the seeing ‘the king in purple mourning’
after the death of his brother.
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| Tudor King Henry VIII in red-purple clothing, from circa 1520. |
Over the next few centuries, it did become more acceptable
for the masses to wear purple, though price was still an issue. Perhaps
mimicking the monarchy, purple was adopted as a colour of half-mourning, to be
worn after black but before the grieving party returned to full colour
clothing. One ladies magazine from 1837 lists ‘black for mourning and purple
for half mourning’ as the correct colours to wear. The greatest
innovation which introduced purple to the wider market was the discovery of a
synthetic purple dye by William Henry Perkin in 1856. Perkin had been
attempting to create a cure for malaria, but accidentally discovered the purple
dye. No longer having to rely on expensive natural dyes has resulted in the
colour being used far more frequently in clothing throughout Europe.
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| An 1874 portrait named 'Lady in Violet' by the Hungarian Artist Pal Syzinei Merse |
So that is my brief history of the colour purple. It doesn't necessarily include every scenario it was used it (particularly for cultures outside Europe) but I hope it was enough for a brief overview. I will be back in a few weeks- though I haven't decided on a new colour yet- red or blue?
-Rachael.
Sources:
Taylor, L. Mourning Dress: A Social and Cultural History
Glick, T. Livesy, S.J and Wallis, F. (eds.) Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine: An Encyclopedia
Condra, J. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History: Prehistory to 1500 CE
Netherton, R. Medieval Clothing and Textiles.Vol.11
Ladies Home Magazine Vol. 9 (1837)
Woodward, J. The Theatre of Death: The Ritual Management of Royal Funerals in Renaissance England 1570-1625
-Rachael.
Sources:
Taylor, L. Mourning Dress: A Social and Cultural History
Glick, T. Livesy, S.J and Wallis, F. (eds.) Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine: An Encyclopedia
Condra, J. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History: Prehistory to 1500 CE
Netherton, R. Medieval Clothing and Textiles.Vol.11
Ladies Home Magazine Vol. 9 (1837)
Woodward, J. The Theatre of Death: The Ritual Management of Royal Funerals in Renaissance England 1570-1625
