Leather Color Help

[Crispvs]

A few years ago someone mentioned a shellfish to me which could produce a red dye which could be used to stain leather. I do not know the name of this shellfish though so cannot offer much more.

Regarding blue, when I was choosing leather for my own scabbard, I queried the colour of a piece of dark blue lambskin I had with an expert of natural dyes. He felt that such a colour could probably be achieved quite easily on leather using woad (picked at the right time of year) augmented with iron filings, which he said were known to have been used in the dying process in Roman times. Not, of course, that that means that the Romans did actually did that.

Crispvs

[Doc]

Hello Crispvs,

Would you happen to have a picture of your blue scabbard color?

I was also thinking that maybe a nice deep green could also be a viable color. One could dip the woad colored leather into a saffron. However, given ow expensive saffron was/is, it would be an unlikely thing.

I wonder what was uwed for green as a natural dye.

I think that one of the mostly overlooked possibilities is that leather could have been painted. They painted everything else they could. I mean, really, why paint a marble statue. There was nothing else that could make a good enough surface for painting?

I know...I know.....the evidence. However, how far of a stretch is it to consider that a society that painted stone for iluustration, propaganda and art, would not paint other objects to show off.

[Martin Moser]

I think that one of the mostly overlooked possibilities is that leather could have been painted. They painted everything else they could.

Of course they did, just think of the Dura Europos shields. The difference of course is that if it is only one color all over, dyeing gives the more durable results and if done on a decent amount of hides at the same time, cheaper, too.

I mean, really, why paint a marble statue.

I'd rather ask why not? ;-) Seems pretty straightforward to me.

[M. Demetrius]

In spite of all the various greens of leaves, etc., natural green dye is not as easy to find as some might think. The chlorophyll that gives leaves their color is not a good dye. It fades very quickly, in my experience, and just doesn't work. Copper ore can yield a range of greens and teal-blues. There are a few earth dyes that are green, and they usually contain copper, which gives them their color.

[Martin Moser]

Hi all,

another excellent source (ca. 1500 AD) for recipes for dyeing leather is the Liber Illuministarum.

Cheers,
Martin

[Crispvs]

Doc,

I don't have a very good picture of the scabbard colour but it is a somewhat lighter shade than a navy blue. I'm not sure precisely what the shade is called but it is probably not dissimilar to the shade which used to be used for French soldiers' coats in the days before khaki and horizon blue. You can see it in this thread, although the colour in th photos isn't quite the colour it is in reality.

http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/20-roma...=15#270239


Crispvs

[Doc]

Very Nice Crispvs. I too have that locket on my pompeii gladius that Matt Lukes made for me.

The blue shade is something I had in mind. It appears to be a rich dark blue.

Since I came across the idea of using verdigris and because I am a chemist, I will get some copper salts and try to dye some scrap goat leather I have.