One of the more "colorful" stories of 19th
century textiles is that of the reds, specifically
Madder Red, and Turkey Red. The basis of these colors
used as a textile dye technically dates back as early as
1500 BC where the roots of the Madder Rubia were
cultivated as a dyestuff. By 1804 an English dye maker
named George Field refined the use of the madder root by
using a mordent, which is a substance used to set dyes
to textiles. The resulting madder lake had a
longer-lasting color, and could be used not only as a
textile dye, but as a dye in paint.
Turkey Red was a color also derived
from Madder Rubia. The term almost exclusively refers to
a bright red color for dyed textiles, and is thought to
have been established in Glasgow Scotland. Starting in
the eighteenth century Turkey Red was principally an
export item, shipped to colonists and traders in the
Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.
