A Revolution in Colour: Natural Dyes and Dress in Europe, c. 1400-1800

(Hardback)

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Bringing together an international cast of scholars from a range of disciplines, this highly illustrated book traces the history of colour through its relationship with clothing in Europe over four centuries in the pre-modern period. A Revolution in Colour reveals how, during this era, dyes spurred on aesthetic experiment, new modes of empirical observation and an intensification of globally interconnected trade. The book demonstrates that merchants and craftspeople generated much of the social value for new aesthetic possibilities through dye tones, successfully arguing that this set off a revolution in colour that intertwined with the first age of globalization and consumerism. Whilst providing clear evidence that even dress obtained by middling people in Europe could be much more expensive than paintings, A Revolution in Colour also shows that vibrant coloured clothing and accessories based on complex chemical experiments were ubiquitous. A broad range of natural dyes made for exciting and highly successful products by creating novelty and new emotional experiences for the masses.

Author Bio

Maria Hayward is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Professor in Early Modern History at the University of Southampton, UK. She is the author of Stuart Style: Monarchy, Dress and the Scottish Male Elite (2020), Rich Apparel: Clothing at the Law in Henry VIIIs England (2009) and Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII (2007). Giorgio Riello is Professor of Global History and Culture and Director of the Warwick Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the co-editor (with Anne Gerritsen) of Writing Material Culture History (2014; 2nd Ed. 2021). Ulinka Rublack is Professor of Early Modern European History at Cambridge University, UK, and author of Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe. She is the author of Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe (2010) and co-editor (with Giorgio Riello) of The Right to Dress: Sumptuary Legislation in a Global Perspective, c.1300-1800 (2018) and (with Maria Hayward) of The First Book of Fashion (Bloomsbury, 2015).