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Title
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An unknown 18th-century Flemish dyers manuscript from Antwerp (1778–1802)
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Author
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Abstract
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| This paper presents the historical analysis of a unique dyers manuscript, preserved within the Museum of Industry in Ghent, Belgium. The manuscript, originating from a dyer in late 18th-century Antwerp comprises an extensive collection of recipes. The study of this manuscript allows researchers to better grasp the practices of traditional dyeing techniques and materials in the region during that time. The manuscript focuses primarily on the dyeing of woolen fabrics and, approximately 90 of the 132 recipes utilize red dyes. Nevertheless, also recipes to dye or-ange, brown, black, blue, and green colors are described. The document extensively mentions the use of madder, brazilwood, redwood, and cochenille. To create a variety of red shades, the dyer describes how fabrics were treated with different mordanting compounds with tin and alum as the main ingredients and how the dyeing solutions were prepared. The resulting colors comprise ‘madder red’, ‘formal red’, ‘crimson’, ‘scarlet’, ‘Turkish red’, ‘fire color’ and ‘carnate’. In addition to the dyeing recipes, the manuscript contains various accounting documents and correspondences between the dyer, customers, and suppliers. Additionally, over 100 original colored samples are paired with the described recipes. In this paper, the contents of the artifact will be disclosed, in-cluding recipes with attached samples and correspondence, and various findings resulting from archive research will be included, contextualizing and placing the dyer in its urban and social context. The paper concludes by discussing the potential limitations and provides an avenue for future research. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Heritage
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Publication
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MDPI AG
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2024
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ISSN
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2571-9408
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DOI
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10.3390/HERITAGE7050117
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Volume/pages
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7
:5
(2024)
, p. 2458-2476
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ISI
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001232124400001
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (open access)
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