SPLENDID HUES: COLOUR, DYES, EVERYDAY SCIENCE, AND WOMEN’S FASHION, 1840-1875 CHARLOTTE CROSBY NICKLAS A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2009 Abstract Great changes characterized the mid- to late nineteenth century in the field of dye chemistry, including many innovations in the production of colours across the spectrum, especially the development of synthetic dyes from coal-tar aniline. From 1840 to 1875, textile manufacturers offered a wide variety of colourful dress textiles to female fashion consumers in both Great Britain and the United States. Middle-class women were urged to educate themselves about dyeing, science, and colour, while cultivating appropriate, moderate attention to fashion in dress. This thesis examines the mid-nineteenth century relationship of fashion, dye chemistry, and everyday science, exploring consumers’ responses to these phenomena of modernity. Paying special attention to the appreciation of chemistry and colour theory during the period, this project considers how the development of new dyes affected middle-class uses and discussions of colours in women’s dress. This multidisciplinary approach reveals that popular attention to science and colour conditioned the reactions to these new dyes and the colours they made, creating an interested, informed group of consumers. Because of the technical accomplishments that led to their production, these dyes were considered visible evidence of scientific progress and the vivid colours provided opportunities for women to employ highly sophisticated rules concerning colour applied to dress. These discussions exemplify the dominant contemporary middle-class ideology of moderation, illustrating a tightrope of taste that women were strongly encouraged to walk. To explore the uses of and reactions to dyes and colours, a number of sources have been consulted. Surviving objects of dress, in both British and American museum collections, provide fundamental historical evidence of how contemporaries wore coloured textiles. Silk dresses in vivid mauve and magenta, the first aniline dyes, enjoyed popularity and excited comment from contemporary observers, especially because these colours had been hitherto impossible or very expensive to produce. New dye colours, however, more often appeared in smaller amounts; printed cottons and ribbons allowed a great number of consumers to experiment with modern colours. Textile pattern books and notebooks of dye experts, or colourists, employed by textile manufacturers, surviving in Manchester’s city archives reveal visual similarities and differences among various dyestuffs, as well as the challenges faced in the applications of new products. These books also provide evidence of commonalities in the language of colour shared among professional dyers and colourists, women’s magazines, and popular science writing. Periodicals, especially those aimed at middle-class women, show many aspects of contemporary discussions of chemistry, colour theory, and fashion. For their everyday domestic responsibilities in cookery, medicine, and education, women were encouraged to learn about chemistry. The magazines also included many of the materials and processes used by colourists to create and fix dyes, indicating a broad culture of dye chemistry that overlapped with that of professional chemists and colourists. This sharing of colours, language, and processes established important cultural contexts for dye developments. These relatively unexplored connections reveal complex, interconnected mid-nineteenth century discussions of fashion, science, and colour. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 List of Illustrations 4 Acknowledgements 11 Author’s Declaration 12 Chapter 1 13 The Chemist has Given them a Hundred Delicate Colours: Introduction Chapter 2 51 No Beauty without Suitability: Fashion, Dress, Taste, and Harmony Chapter 3 102 One Essential Thing to Learn is Colour: Appreciation, Language, and Theory Chapter 4 151 A Slight Tincture of Chemical Knowledge: Women, Everyday Science, and Chemistry Chapter 5 196 A Few Receipts for Dyeing will be Found Very Serviceable: Dye Use by Colourists and Women Chapter 6 245 Surely the Apotheosis of Colour is at Hand: Colour, Fashion, and Chemistry in Women’s Dress Chapter 7 294 All the World Laid by Art and Science at her Feet: Conclusion Bibliography 319 Appendix 338 3 List of Illustrations 2.1 Fashion plate. Ladies’ Cabinet N. S. 2, 7 (June 1847). St. Peter’s House Library, University of Brighton. 2.2 Fashion plate. Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine 25 (September 1842). New York Public Library. 2.3 “Our Practical Dress Instructor. Coraco Eugenie.” Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine 51 (July 1855): 56. New York Public Library. 2.4 Fashion plate. “The Fashions. Expressly designed and prepared for the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.” Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine N. S. 1 (May 1860). New York Public Library. 2.5 “Our Practical Dress Instructor. Coraco Eugenie.” Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine 51 (July 1855): 55. New York Public Library. 2.6 “Mantle and Undersleeves. La Marguerite.” Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine 43 (December 1851): 368. New York Public Library. 3.1 “Illustration of the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colours.” Michel-Eugène Chevreul. The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colours and their Applications to the Arts. Trans. Charles Martel. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854. Color plate I. 5.1 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page. England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1859-1865. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 22 [Green 1307]. 5.2 Sydall Brothers (Chadkirk Printworks). Notebook page. England (Chadkirk, Cheshire), after 1858. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 114 [Green 1329]. 5.3 Thomas Royle (Swaisland Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Crayford, Kent) 1850s-1860s. Manchester Metropolitan University. 5.4 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1859-1865. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 22 [Green 1307]. 5.5 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page. England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1861. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 25 [Green 1307]. 4 5.6 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page. England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1860-1864. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 24 [Green 1307]. 5.7 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page. England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1857-1861. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 19 [Green 1306]. 5.8 Textile sample. William Crookes. A Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico-Printing. London: Longmans, Green, 1874. 155. 5.9 Textile sample. William Crookes. A Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico-Printing. London: Longmans, Green, 1874. 157. 5.10 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1860-1864. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 24 [Green 1307]. 5.11 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1859-1865. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 22 [Green 1307]. 5.12 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page. England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1860. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 43 [Green 1310]. 5.13 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1851. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 7 [Green 1304]. 5.14 Sydall Brothers. (Chadkirk Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Chadkirk, Cheshire), after 1858. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 114 [Green 1329]. 5.15 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1861. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 25 [Green 1307]. 5.16 Thomas Royle (Swaisland Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Crayford, Kent) 1850s-1860s. Manchester Metropolitan University. 5 5.17 John Wilkinson & Co. (Oakenshaw Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Oakenshaw, near Blackburn, Lancashire), 1856-1860, 1867-1874. Manchester Archives M75/Historical Collection 104 [Green 1301]. 5.18 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1854. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 11 [Green 1304]. 5.19 Thomas Royle (Swaisland Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Crayford, Kent) 1850s-1860s. Manchester Metropolitan University. 5.20 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad Oak Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Accrington, Lancashire), 1859-1865. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 22 [Green 1307]. 5.21 Thomas Royle (Swaisland Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Crayford, Kent) 1850s-1860s. Manchester Metropolitan University. 5.22 John Wilkinson & Co. (Oakenshaw Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Oakenshaw, near Blackburn, Lancashire), 1856-1860, 1867-1874. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 104 [Green 1301]. 5.23 Thomas Royle (Swaisland Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Crayford, Kent) 1850s-1860s. Manchester Metropolitan University. 5.24 John Wilkinson & Co. (Oakenshaw Printworks). Notebook page (detail). England (Oakenshaw, near Blackburn, Lancashire), 1856-1860, 1867-1874. Manchester Archives, M75/Historical Collection 104 [Green 1301]. 5.25 John Lightfoot, Jr. (Broad