DYEING
HOWEVER remarkable the achievements of Oriental art in any field, their
most pleasing effect has always been associated with colour. Without it
the beauty of the lustre tiles of Persia, the marvellous porcelains of
China, and the delicate textiles of Western Asia would fade into
insignificance. It is indeed the wonderful harmonies of exquisite tints
chosen by the touch of genius from a palette of many thousand pigments
that awaken the appreciation of the luxurious splendour of the East.
This love for colour is inherent in every rug-producing race of Asia and
is older than history. It is but natural, then, that the earliest
carpets should be radiant with glorious tints, which in a lesser measure
are reflected in modern fabrics.
If high praise is due to the artist who, by a skilful association of
different colours of co-ordinate tones, creates the picture that
delights the sense, a fair measure is also due to the artisan who not
only controls the secrets of the dyes, but has mastered the difficult
knowledge of their proper application; for the beauty of the finished
woven product depends on the judicious dyeing of the yarn more than on
anything else. From father to son for many generations has been
transmitted a knowledge of those particular vegetable and animal
products of root, leaf, fruit, and insect, and the manner of their use,
by which the imperishable lustrous sheen and colour of the finest woven
fabrics are produced. Indeed, this art requires to-day more technical
knowledge than any other branch of rug weaving, since modern designs are
no longer more than the imitation of those in older carpets; and so
important is it regarded that a successful dyer is a man of distinction
in his tribe.
The sources from which are obtained many of the dyes that give the
innumerable carpet colours are recorded. A few of them are received from
remote countries, but most of the plants from which they are extracted
grow in marshes and on hills and plains where the nomads wander with
their flocks. Many of them are used without blending, but even some of
the seven primary colours are derived by proper blending; and from a
number of dyes of different strengths and qualities are produced an
infinite number of rich and delicate shades.
The principal blues of Oriental rugs are obtained from indigo. This is
derived from colouring matter in the leaves of plants of the genus
_Indigofera_, that grow to a height of four to six feet in the East
Indies, when they are cut and placed in a vat containing water. In about
twelve hours fermentation ensues; and after this subsides the liquid is
drawn off into another vat, where after one or two hours of agitation
the indigo forms as a precipitate. Many different species of this plant
grow wild throughout Asia, and from the earliest times have been used to
produce dye-stuff. Indigo is one of the most valuable of all dyes, as by
using it in conjunction with others an infinite variety of shades
result.
Some reds are obtained from the plant madder (_Rubia tinctorum_), that
grows abundantly in Central and Southwestern Asia, Its colouring
properties were known to the ancients; and for a long period it has been
cultivated in Asia Minor, where the succulent roots of the second and
third years’ growth are regularly dried and prepared for use. Other reds
are derived from the insect cochineal (_Coccus ilicis_) that lives on
oaks of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and was known among
the Arabs as “kermes,” signifying Red Dye. After the discovery of
America another species (_Coccus cacti_) was found that was more
productive of dyeing qualities. The females, which alone are valuable,
are plucked from the trees and killed by exposing them to vapours of
acetic acid, or placing them in hot water, or in an oven. From their
dried bodies, of which over fifty thousand are necessary to make a
pound, the dye is produced. As both these dyes are noted for their
fastness, they are constantly used, but when silk or wool is to be dyed
cochineal is preferable to madder.
The yellow dyes are obtained from several sources. Some are from the
berries of plants of Western Asia. Others are from the leaves of the
sumach bushes, that are indigenous to nearly every part of the world. An
orange tinge is derived from the turmeric extracted from the short root
stocks of a plant of the genus _Curcuma_. From time immemorial a
beautiful yellow has been obtained from saffron. It is the product of
the stigmas of the fragrant crocus, which are so small that over four
thousand are necessary to furnish an ounce of dried saffron; yet the dye
is so powerful that it will give a distinct tint to seven hundred
thousand times its weight of water. As saffron has something of a
stimulating effect on the human system, it has been taken by the
Persians when mixed with their rice.
With none of these three basic colours was any national feeling
associated, yet the Persians excelled in the use of blues. The Turkomans
of Turkestan and Asia Minor produced better reds than any other colour,
and the best yellows, even if generally inferior in positiveness to
blues and reds, were those of the Chinese.
Though other primary and secondary colours sometimes result from the
application of a single dye, the many thousand different tints can only
be produced by the blending of two or more. Moreover, the qualities of
the same dye vary greatly, as they depend on the soil where the plant
grew, the time of year when it was removed, and the weather and other
conditions prevailing during the dyeing.
In nature green is one of the most pleasing colours, but in carpets it
is most unsatisfactory, as it has generally a faded appearance, due
probably to the fact that one of the dyes of which it is formed by
blending is less permanent than the other. The Chinese greens obtained
from the buckthorns are generally the best.
Greys and browns are sometimes derived from gall nuts, and reddish brown
from henna. For very dark browns and black, iron pyrites has been
largely used in both old and modern rugs; but unfortunately the dye has
a corrosive effect on the wool, so that the black knots of old rugs are
often worn to the warp.
In parts of India flowers of the bastard teak (_Butea frondosa_) make a
favourite dye, from which are produced, by blending with other dyes, a
large number of shades ranging from deep yellow to brownish copper
tones. Another well known dye is _Butti lac_, obtained from an insect,
_Coccus lacca_, that lives on the twigs of trees. It is a substitute for
cochineal and produces different shades of red, crimson, terra cotta,
and purple, according to the other dyes and the mordants with which it
is blended.
Besides these few dyes are innumerable others that are used either
singly or in combination. Furthermore, different colour effects are
produced by the application of different mordants, which it is necessary
to use for the reason that without them many fibrous materials are
unable to absorb a large number of the dyes. The most valuable of all
mordants is alum; and the sulphate of iron and tin are largely employed
in the case of red colours. Of the vegetable mordants, pomegranate rind,
which contains some yellow colouring matter, is the best known. Valonia
also is sometimes used, as well as limes, lemons, the fruit of the
tamarind, and the mango.
In the monograph of Mr. Harris on the “Carpet Weaving Industry of
Southern India” are a number of directions from an old manuscript owned
by a dyer who stated that he was the descendant of twenty generations of
dyers who originally came from Tabriz, and that he had made his copy
from a Persian book of dyes which had belonged to his grandfather. A few
of these are given below, because they show not only the dyes and
mordants, but also the methods employed.
“Birbuls Blue. Take cinnabar, indigo, and alum, grind and sift lighter
than the light dust of the high hills; soak for ten hours; keep stirring
it; put in the wool and soak for many hours. Boil for three hours; wash
in kurd water, water in which kurds and whey have been well beaten up;
leave for three hours, and then wash and beat again in water.
“A Fine Indigo Blue. Take indigo, soak it in water for twelve hours,
grind it to a fine paste in a mortar, add some _Terminalia citrina_,
pomegranate peel, and alum; and mix thoroughly. Boil; put the water into
the hot bath and keep stirring till cold. Now mix in some iron-filings
water, and boil steadily for another two and a half to three hours; wash
with a beating and dry.
“Ruddy Brown Grey. Take sulphate of iron, _Terminalia citrina_, oak
galls, and alum; mix well; dry; then steep for twenty-four hours. Put in
the wool; soak it for twenty-four hours, then boil for two or three
hours. Dip in a soda-bath, wash, and dry.
“Cinnamon. Take oak galls, acacia bark, cinnabar, and alum, and steep
for a night. Put in the wool, and soak for twenty or thirty hours; boil
the water for two or three hours and give a soda-bath wash; dip in
acidulated water; and wash again with beating.
“Crimson. Take lac colour and cochineal. Steep for from four to six days
in the sun, in hot weather for the lesser time, stirring constantly till
a rich deep colour comes where some has stood for a few minutes in a
thin glass bottle and settled. Then strain through two cloths, and put
in pomegranate rind and good iron-filings water. Add mineral acid;
steep wool for thirty-six hours, then boil for three hours, wash well,
and dry.
[Illustration: _COLOUR PLATE II—OUSHAK CARPET_
_The colours and pattern of this antique Oushak are similar to those of
the best examples that remain of the carpets woven in Asia Minor during
the XV and XVI Centuries. The deep blue of the central field, the rich
red of the medallions, and the golden yellow of the leaves are entirely
unlike the more subdued hues found in Persian rugs. Strongly contrasting
with them are the more delicate tones of the tendrils and leaves, which
display in their drawing a keen sense of refinement. In the formal
pattern of the field are stateliness and elegance; in the narrow borders
are simplicity and grace. Such colours and drawing show that the early
Asia Minor weavers had an intense appreciation of the ennobling
qualities of beauty and harmony._
_Loaned by Mr. James F. Ballard_]
“Pale Greyish Green. Take copper rust, asburg,[5] and alum. Mix well
with any hot water, not boiling; soak wool for eighteen hours, then boil
for three hours. Give a bath with water acidulated with some limes, and
dry in shade.
“Old Gold and Rich Yellow. Take turmeric and asburg, cinnabar and alum.
Soak all night. Steep wool for twenty-four hours, boil for four and a
half hours, wash with a beating, and dry in shade.
“Dark Grey. Take of the fruit of _Cupressus sempervirens_, seeds and
seed pods of babul (_Acacia arabica_), iron-filings water, and alum.
Steep over night. Now add the water and let it soak for twenty-four
hours, then boil for two or three hours, until the colour is right, then
wash and dry in the sun.
“Rose Colour. Take ratanjot (_Onosma echioides_), a thought of
cochineal, manjit (_Rubia cordifolia_) or lac colour a very little, and
cinnabar. Add water, soak them for twelve hours, put in wool, and steep
for thirty-six hours; cook it for three hours, then bathe the wool in
alum and wash nicely; afterward dry in the shade.
“Persian Scarlet. Take lac colour, and if you choose a little cochineal
for richness, and soak from four to six days; strain it in two cloths
and add alum and a little turmeric; let it stand for three hours. Put
wool in and steep for twenty-four hours, then boil for two hours. Take
out the wool and add mineral acid; re-enter wool and boil an hour more.
Wash fifteen minutes when cold, and dry in the shade.
“Saffron Yellow. Take turmeric, cinnabar, and soda, add water and keep
for a full day. Then add some alum, make the dip, and soak the wool for
thirty hours. Cook it for several hours, and dry in the shade after
beating and good washing.
“Rich Yellow. Take asburg and turmeric, soak for a night in water, steep
the wool for twenty-four hours, add alum, shake out, and dry in shade.”
Identical shades of a number of colours are not produced in all parts of
the Orient, not only for the reason that soil, moisture, and climate
affect the colour values of dye-stuff, but because each family of dyers
preserve inviolable the craft secrets transmitted from their
forefathers. Thus it happens that different parts of the rug-producing
countries adhere to particular tones that help to identify the locality
where the fabrics were woven.
Unfortunately the Western aniline dyes, which were introduced about the
year 1860 and quickly adopted because they are cheaper and less
complicated in their application, have to such an extent transplanted
some of these fine old vegetable dyes that a number of the richest and
most delicate colours found in the rugs of a former century are no
longer produced. Thus the superb blue of the fine old Ispahans, as well
as of lustre tiles and illuminated manuscripts, belongs to a lost art.
The disadvantages of the aniline dyes are several: they have a tendency
to make the fibres of the textile fabric brittle, and when it is wet the
colours will frequently run. Some dyes also fade more readily than
others, so that if a colour be the product of two or more dyes, the
resultant tint may be totally unlike the original. On the other hand,
not all vegetable dyes are fast; but as they fade they mellow into more
pleasing shades. Efforts have been made to encourage the use of old
vegetable dyes; but unless the laws which have been enacted in parts of
Asia to restrict the importation of aniline dyes be more stringently
enforced than in the past, the cultivation in the garden patch of the
dye-producing herbs and plants will soon cease to be the time-honoured
occupation it was in days gone by.
Almost as important as the art of preparing the dyes is that of properly
applying them to the yarns. It is an art that demands infinite pains in
its technique, as well as a lifetime to acquire. It is in itself a
separate profession practised by artisans who guard with jealousy the
sacred secrets that transmitted from generation to generation occupy
their thoughts to the exclusion of almost everything else. The homes of
these professional dyers in the larger villages and cities are located
on a stream of water which possesses mineral properties that long
experience has proven especially suitable as solvents for the different
kinds of colouring matter. Ranged about the walls of their low dwellings
are jars or vats containing liquid dye of various colours. Suspended
above them, from hooks driven into beams, are the yarns from which,
after immersion in the proper vats, the liquids are allowed to drain.
After this the yarns are exposed for the proper length of time to the
dry air and burning sun. It is, therefore, the suitable mordants, the
preparation of the proper dyes for the vats, the immersion of the yarn
in correct sequence and for the correct length of time, as well as
the exposure to the glare and heat of the sun for a definite period to
be gauged to the exact moment, on which the colour results depend. This
complicated process by which, for instance, the infinitely different
shades of a red, a blue, or a brown may be conveyed to yarn by using the
same dyes but by slightly modifying the steps requires the greatest
precision, for which no rule but an experience amounting almost to
instinct is the guide.
[Illustration: PLATE 6. FERAGHAN RUG]
There was a time when the Oriental had not learned the meaning of
_tempus fugit_ or seen the glitter of Western gold, when his dyeing and
weaving were proud callings, in which entered his deepest feelings. Then
the old vegetable dyes that mellow, grow softer and more lustrous, were
almost exclusively used; but now throughout all weaving countries the
dyer has deteriorated so that he can no longer produce some of the rich
colours in use half a century ago. Yet remote from the principal lines
of travel, on the edges of the desert, in lonely valleys, among rugged
mountains, half-tamed tribes are still dyeing their hand-spun yarn as
did their fathers’ fathers.