106 ON COLOUR. Paet I. 



The same hue of green which would have a disagreeable, 

 or even a discordant, effect, when combined with a particular 

 colour, may occasionally be introduced upon a gold, black, or 

 some other ground in contact with that same colour without 

 appearing any longer discordant ; the ground having altered 

 the relative conditions of the two; and thus instances of 

 green with the most discordant tones are sometimes bearable, 

 as in Indian and Persian patterns, on an orange, black, 

 salmon, red, or even on a pink, or purple, ground, where 

 much gold is introduced, which would be intolerable without 

 the same quantity of gold. I shall have occasion to mention 

 examples of these in Sect. XIX. pp. 152, 155, 156. 



Pink, again, scarcely accords with any other colour, and 

 looks better alone. It is too frequently overwhelmed by a 

 neighbour. It is true that, in nature, pink has often an 

 agreeable effect with green, as in the rose with its leaves, and 

 the red pink of the wood sorrel suits its leaves also ; but a 

 piece of drapery, or a dress, of these two colours would be far 

 from harmonious. And as I have shown (pp. 19, 100) colours 

 have a very different aspect in a garden, and when used for 

 ornamentation in building, or in fabrics. Pink too sometimes 

 looks well with white (which does not overwhelm it), and with 

 some light hues ; but then the effect is poor, or at most pretty 

 and insignificant. But though too light to bear the union 

 with most other colours, it looks well alone in draperies and 

 dresses. I do not, however, in speaking of " draperies and 

 dresses," mean that these two are subject to the same condi- 

 tions ; for what suits one is often ill adapted to the other, and 

 we should be sorry to see all the contrasts allowable in 

 draperies transferred to costume. But in both of them a 

 simple pink hue is preferable to one intermixed with other 

 colours ; and in dresses it is difficult to find any trimmings 

 suited to pink, unless they be black, or a dark purple. This 

 fact of some colours giving a different impression, when in a 

 mass, is consistent with the difficulty of judging of a design, 



