Blue lake

Description

An unstandardized term that was used in the 17th century for a water soluble blue dye obtained from the Gummi lacrae tree (Harley 1982). The nonpermanent color was used for dyeing textiles. Blue lake has also been used to describe a weak solution of Prussian blue (Mayer 1969).

Synonyms and Related Terms

laque bleue (Fr.); laca azul (Esp.); lacca blu (It.)

Resources and Citations

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• R.D. Harley, Artists' Pigments c. 1600-1835, Butterworth Scientific, London, 1982

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000 Comment: lacree