dyestuffs recorded in the inventory of a Boston dyer who expired in 1695 

 (Haynes, 1954, vol. 1, p. 46).^ The "stockfish wood" referred to by Captain 

 William Dampier, the adventurer who wrote a diary in 1676, was also 

 fustic. Throughout the 18th century, apothecaries imported it from Brazil 

 and a number of West Indian islands such as Jamaica, Tampico, and Cuba. 

 The tree that yielded the dye is a member of the mulberry family, and for 

 that reason fustic was known as dyers' mulberry. 

 Asa Ellis, writing in 1 798, gives a fine description : 



Fustick is much used in this country ... It should appear when spHt of a bright yellow, 

 tinged with the orange colour. The wood is close and hard; generally hard to split and 

 full of splinters. The root and that part of the wood which is knoty is the best. It comes 

 to us in large logs from six inches to one foot and a half through; if it be rotten, or other- 

 wise injuried it will not answer well for Saxon greens; however, it may be employed in 

 dark drabs (p. 20). 



Although generally purchased as logs or sections of logs, it was prepared 

 for dyeing by first rasping or chipping into small fragments. The fustic 

 then could be placed in the dyebath; however, it was often soaked in water 

 for two or three days before being used, since the dye was released more 

 readily if the wood was premoistened. Fustic and other dyewood chips 

 were tied in sacks before being immersed in the dyebath so they would not 

 splinter and tear the textile material and could be removed easily after 

 dyeing. 



Alum was the standard mordant and was used often with cream of tartar. 

 Some early dyers claimed that fustic would not impart a lasting color. 

 This may have been due to improper mordanting or other unscientific 

 dyeing techniques. Potassiimi bichromate, the mordant used in fustic dyeing 

 today, was known but not used as a inordant until later in the 19th century. 



At least one 20th-century authority, a dye chemist writing in 1910, said 

 that fustic combined with a chrome mordant was at that time still regarded 

 by some as the best yellow coloring matter the dyer possessed. He fiu-ther 

 stated that it was fast to milling and soaping and stood light well. On 

 exposure to light the shade became browner, but in many compound shades 

 the change was not readily noticeable (Knecht, 1910, vol. 1, pp. 351-352). 



Fustic has been superseded by other yellow dyes, but not until after it 

 provided several generations of dyers with an economical and reliable 

 source of color. 



^QUERCITRON {Quercus velulina) 



Also known as black oak; yellow oak or American oak; and known earlier as Q. nigra 

 or Q_. tinctoria 



5 Original source is Suffolk County Probate Records, XIII, p. 743. 



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