 |
| At Book Depository |
While on the subject of colour, try to get your hands on Victoria Finlay’s fascinating travelogue, “Color”. Aside from interesting facts about the history and development of various colours (murex – a purple from predatory sea snails), you really begin to understand how important colour has been to us through-out history.
There's a chapter dedicated to indigo and it makes you really think about how world's collided as the demand for these natural colouring substances increased. The ready availability of synthetic dyes has certainly changed us.
Why do we love colour? Mary Schoeser suggests in "World Textiles" that the period between 3000 – 400BC (Bronze & Iron Ages) is more a Dye and Loom Age. Discoveries reveal advanced skills in both crafts; more than we credit them for having had. These skills have left a cultural imprint that is still significant and very relevant today. It’s in our bones you see….
 |
| In my Indian indigo kurta in Nepal, 2005 |
Indigo is the oldest known dye, dating to about 2500BC, and the earliest centre for its production and processing is considered to be India. Indigo, a heavenly blue, has been seen as a sign of wealth and luxury; having protective properties – both spiritually and for health reasons (insect repellent) across many civilizations and an embryonic motivator in world resource trading (and cross-cultural sharing?).
 |
| Indigo from Hill Tribes in Vietnam, 2007 |
Hill Tribes in Vietnam continue an indigo tradition to this day. It is a complex mix of highly technical skills learnt over generations and infused religious/spiritual beliefs. In Japan’s Edo Period, indigo dyed cotton was quite possibly the uniform of the masses since silk was a forbidden cloth, unless you were the emperor, of course! That tradition lives on today and no more so than in our favourite casual wear – blue jeans. We, who work with our hands, call ourselves blue collar workers……
 |
| At the Aizome Workshop in Kyoto, 2000 |
I had the great privilege in 2000 (still looking for my photos) of meeting a 3rd generation Aizome (indigo dye) Master, Kenichi Utsuki in Aizenkobo, at his family’s aizome studio, itself dating from 1850’s. Located deep in the fascinating and historic Nishijin textile neighbourhood of old Kyoto, we struggled to find the studio, being waylaid by so many seriously tempting sights. Not to worry, the smell of the fermenting vats of dye led us to his studio door. If you love to dye, if you love sensuous shades of blue, if you thrill at the look and touch of traditional hand-dyed fabrics, if you gasp at the skills of a master dyer, then this is definitely the place to be.
 |
| Shades of Indigo in Yorktown USA, 2009 |
So why am I bringing this to your attention? Well, indigo was eventually a major crop for South Carolina (and thrived in Jamaica and the Virgin Islands) so it is hardly surprising that Yorktown farmers in 1780's were using it to colour their clothes.
 |
Blue glazed tiles from Yorktown.
Blue was a favourite colour |
