Home dyers undoubtedly used alkanet in areas where it was locally 

 available. Red color is extracted from alkanet roots by immersing them 

 in various solvents. The coloring material was placed in a water bath into 

 which the textile material — usually wool or silk — was immersed. This 

 processing" imparted a fugitive red color. An 1869 source also mentioned 

 that limited amounts of cotton and thread were also alkanet-dyed a bluish 

 lilac by using alum and iron mordants. 



ANNATTO (Bixa orellana) 



Also known as annotta; arnotta; roucou (Fr.); racourt; orlean; and otter 



Apparently annatto was commonly used during the 18th and 19th 

 centuries, producing pink, reddish, and orange hues on cotton and silk, 

 and yellow-orange colors in butter and cheese. 



The dye is derived from the orange-red outer covering of the seeds of a 

 tropical shrub, Bixa orellana. Specific preparatory techniques diflfered; 

 however, in general the seeds were soaked, fermented, macerated, and 

 washed, then pressed into small cakes or sold as a paste. The shrub that 

 bears this fruit thrives in tropical areas all over the world; however, annatto 

 was imported to America mainly from South America. 



The knowledge that bixin, annatto's dye principle, could be dissolved 

 readily in alkali was applied in 1814 and later when an alkaline annatto 

 solution was sold in London as "Scott's Nankeen Dye." 



All 19th century annatto-dyeing procedures employed potash and often 

 used an alum mordant with a variety of recommendations for combining 

 these ingredients. One early 20th century cotton-dyeing procedure required 

 two steps : the cloth was first immersed in a warm alkaline dye bath (sodium 

 carbonate), followed by a dilute sulfuric acid bath in which the red coloring 

 matter developed. 



Because of its fugitive nature this dye was used often in combination 

 with weld, brazilwood, or other dyestuffs. Authors of a number of dye 

 manuals cautioned users that soap and wind "carried ofT' its colors. 



GUM-LAC {Laccifer lacca, formerly known as Coccus lacca) 

 Also known as gonime-laque (Fr.); der Gunimilack (Ger.) 



This dye was known for centuries in India before it was finally exported 

 to England in 1796 (Bancroft, 1814, vol. 2, p. 13). A few years later it was 

 imported into the United States, where it found a ready market throughout 

 the remainder of the 19th century. Its popularity was due to reasonable 

 price (half the cost of cochineal for which it substituted) and dull but very 

 fast red colors. 



Lac dye was derived from the dried bodies of East Indian insects related 

 to the cochineal-producing insect, Dactylopius coccus. These attached them- 



28 



