Natural dyes

Description

A class of dyes extracted from plant and animal sources. Natural dyestuffs can be derived from leaves, branches, fruits, flowers or roots of some plants; common examples are: alkanet, annatto, archil, brazilwood dye, buckthorn berries, cudbear, Cutch, fustic, madder, indigo, litmus, logwood, morinda, quercitron, safflower, saffron, sassafras, sumac, turmeric, turnsole, Walnut, Weld, and woad. Some dyes come from animal sources; examples are cochineal, kermes, lac dye, sepia, and Tyrian purple.

Synonyms and Related Terms

natural dyestuff; colorantes naturales (Esp.); colorants naturels (Fr.); corantes naturais (Port.)

Resources and Citations

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

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

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