In 1798, Asa Ellis said that woolen yarn for coverlets and stockings 

 could be advantageously colored with logwood. He did not fully explain 

 whether logwood-dyed textiles would prove more profitable to the dyer or 

 the consumer. Other 18th- and 19th-century dyers considered logwood 

 blues poor substitutes for indigo, because although they were lower in 

 price they faded when exposed to light. In France at that time logwood 

 was frequently added to indigo dyebaths for fuller and richer blues. 



The most important application of logwood was in dyeing blacks, 

 which continued throughout the first third of the 20th century. Since 

 black was considered a compound color many dyers felt that it required a 

 combination of dyes, each of which yielded a diff"erent tone. Thus a black 

 recipe might use logwood and sumach for their black tones, fustic for 

 yellow, and a metallic oxide such as copperas which in the process of 

 oxidation fixed the black. Sometimes 18th- and 19th-century dyers used 

 so many ingredients and such great quantities of them to reinforce the 

 effects of logwood that even without it the dye solutions might have yielded 

 the desired deep black tone. 



Now logwood is no longer commercially valuable; however, it has 

 certainly proved to be history's most tenacious natural dyestuff, defying 

 substitution almost until the beginning of the Second World War. 



Neutral Dyes 



Most of the dye materials included in this grouping imparted color to 

 textiles; however, their main value lay in their mordanting power. For this 

 reason tannin-rich nutgalls and sumach, the most widely used among these 

 substances, were considered essentials in every dyer's shop. 



BARKS OF VARIOUS TREES 



* BIRCHES, known as bouleau (Fr.); die Birke (Ger.) 



Yellow birch {Betula lutea) 



Cherry or black birch {B. lento.) 



White, paper, or canoe birch {B. papyrifera) 



The barks of several varieties of birch trees were utilized in dyeing, mainly 

 in light browns, blacks, or other drab colors. Peter Kalm mentioned Betula 

 alnus, which referred to a variety of birch used in the mid- 18th century. 

 In 1869, O'Neill informed his readers that birch bark was "employed in 

 dyeing, but principally by the peasantry" (p. 77). 



*OAKS, known as chene (Fr.); die Eiche (Ger.) 

 White oak (Quercus alba) 

 Red oak (Q,. rubra) 

 Chestnut oak {Q. prinus) 



Quercitron or black oak was most famous for the fast and bright yellows 

 it imparted to textiles. Other native oaks, however, were also utilized by 



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