When I walk into Beehive Woolshop, my favourite yarn store, the first thing I see is colour. The shop is packed with yarns of any and every shade, and the best part about selecting the perfect yarn for a project is choosing the colour palette. Now, the majority of these yarns are dyed through chemical processes; very few are hand-dyed using natural colourants. During the Viking Age, however, and for a great amount of time prior and after this period, yarns were dyed by hand using natural dyestuffs obtained either through trade or through local collection. The majority of textile fragments preserved in the archaeological record are stained muddy brownish colours from hundreds of years of contact with the earth, but many of these fragments were originally vibrant reds, blues, greens, yellows, and purples. Researchers can study the original colour of these samples using a variety of techniques, such as different methods of spectrochemical analysis. In this blog post, I want to provide an overview of the methodology of dyeing wool, which was the most common material used in nalbinding, and discuss the materials that would be needed to achieve brilliant, rich colours through natural means that were present during the Viking Age.
Dyestuffs:
Throughout the Viking world, wool was dyed using primarily plant-based colourants, although other mineral and insect sources have been discovered as well. The process of obtaining dyes through these plants depended on the substance being used, whether it be roots, barks, stocks or leaves, but generally, the plant material was powdered or soaked in almost-boiling water and applied to the fleece, yarn or finished textile (dyes could be added at several different points during textile production). Some vegetative sources could have been hand-picked close to home; depending on their geographical location, individuals would have access to certain native plants that could yield colourants through proper treatment. Other dyes, particularly those of higher quality and value, would be obtained through trade networks that spanned across Europe during the Viking Age. Many of these dyestuffs that traveled great distances would have yielded brilliant colours more easily, and so they were generally more expensive, reserved for those who had the wealth to spend on such luxury goods.
Even locally grown plant sources could produce brilliant colours, however, if the dyer was skilled and patient enough to obtain the dyes from the vegetative sources, which could take many weeks to produce. Plant materials used for dyeing wool specifically included madder, woad, weld, lichens, and certain barks, such as walnut, although again, there was regional variation in the accessibility of some dyestuffs. Dyes could also be blended to obtain different colours, and the application of certain mordants (see below) could change the colour that the dyestuffs would yield. Some individuals also chose not to dye their wool garments, and would still achieve whites, browns and greys, dependent on the natural shade of the sheep's fleece.
Mordants:
In order to produce more brilliant and long-lasting colours, a mordant would be applied to the wool, either before or after dyeing, depending on the substance being used. A mordant is basically a substance, usually a mineral, that is applied in order to make the colour from the dye more vibrant and help it to stay on the wool evenly. Substantive dyes do not need the application of a mordant to achieve a desired effect, whereas non-substantive or adjective dyes do need the application of a mordant. Common mordants included alum, copper, iron and apparently even stale urine! As mentioned above, certain mordants could be applied to achieve different colours using the same dyestuff (the first video below demonstrates how iron could be used to make a dye produce a greenier colour).
Below I have included a couple videos of a demonstrator briefly discussing vegetative dyestuffs and mineral mordants that could have been obtained in England during the Saxon period, but the materials she displays would also have been common during the Viking Age as well. The swatches she has created and the visual demonstration of dye preparation and mordant sources are useful in understanding the techniques, and since we're talking about colour, we should add a little visuality to the mix! (Forgive the enchanting flute in the videos!)
The wool I have been using for my nalbinding was not hand-dyed, but I can definitely see how fun and rewarding hand-dyeing could be! Textile production wasn't the relaxing past-time it is today, but it might be a fun summer project for me to try (although I think I'll steer clear of the stale urine). I chose grey, dull brown and plum coloured yarns for my practice. It's interesting to think that these colours could very well have been achieved during the Viking Age!
Sources:
DEGANO, I., RIBECHINI, E., MODUGNO, F., and COLOMBINI, M. P., 2009. Analytical methods for the characterization of organic dyes in artworks and in historical textiles. Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 44, pp. 363-410.
FRANSEN, L., NORGAARD, A., and OSTERGARD, E., 2011. Medieval garments reconstructed: Norse clothing patterns. Hightown, Lancaster, UK: Aarhus University Press.
HALL, A. R., 1996. A survey of palaeobotanical evidence for dyeing and mordanting from British archaeological excavations. Quaternary Science Reviews, 15, pp. 635-640.
TAYLOR, G. W., 1983. Detection and identification of dyes on Anglo-Scandinavian textiles. Studies in Conservation, 28(4), pp. 153-160.
http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikdyes.html
http://vikingladyaine.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/mordants-wool-and-natural-dyes/
http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Information-on-Natural-Dyes-c567.htm
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm
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| An example of the colour selection available to us modern-day knitters Image: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/a4/44/1a/a4441a4193662c2572c0969aee56c5b2.jpg |
Dyestuffs:
Throughout the Viking world, wool was dyed using primarily plant-based colourants, although other mineral and insect sources have been discovered as well. The process of obtaining dyes through these plants depended on the substance being used, whether it be roots, barks, stocks or leaves, but generally, the plant material was powdered or soaked in almost-boiling water and applied to the fleece, yarn or finished textile (dyes could be added at several different points during textile production). Some vegetative sources could have been hand-picked close to home; depending on their geographical location, individuals would have access to certain native plants that could yield colourants through proper treatment. Other dyes, particularly those of higher quality and value, would be obtained through trade networks that spanned across Europe during the Viking Age. Many of these dyestuffs that traveled great distances would have yielded brilliant colours more easily, and so they were generally more expensive, reserved for those who had the wealth to spend on such luxury goods.
 |
| Madder root, a common vegetative dyestuff used to obtain a variety of reds |
 |
| Woad was one of few vegetative sources that yielded blue dyes Image: http://www.woad-inc.co.uk/woad-inc_images/woad_layout.jpg |
In order to produce more brilliant and long-lasting colours, a mordant would be applied to the wool, either before or after dyeing, depending on the substance being used. A mordant is basically a substance, usually a mineral, that is applied in order to make the colour from the dye more vibrant and help it to stay on the wool evenly. Substantive dyes do not need the application of a mordant to achieve a desired effect, whereas non-substantive or adjective dyes do need the application of a mordant. Common mordants included alum, copper, iron and apparently even stale urine! As mentioned above, certain mordants could be applied to achieve different colours using the same dyestuff (the first video below demonstrates how iron could be used to make a dye produce a greenier colour).
Below I have included a couple videos of a demonstrator briefly discussing vegetative dyestuffs and mineral mordants that could have been obtained in England during the Saxon period, but the materials she displays would also have been common during the Viking Age as well. The swatches she has created and the visual demonstration of dye preparation and mordant sources are useful in understanding the techniques, and since we're talking about colour, we should add a little visuality to the mix! (Forgive the enchanting flute in the videos!)
The wool I have been using for my nalbinding was not hand-dyed, but I can definitely see how fun and rewarding hand-dyeing could be! Textile production wasn't the relaxing past-time it is today, but it might be a fun summer project for me to try (although I think I'll steer clear of the stale urine). I chose grey, dull brown and plum coloured yarns for my practice. It's interesting to think that these colours could very well have been achieved during the Viking Age!
Sources:
DEGANO, I., RIBECHINI, E., MODUGNO, F., and COLOMBINI, M. P., 2009. Analytical methods for the characterization of organic dyes in artworks and in historical textiles. Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 44, pp. 363-410.
FRANSEN, L., NORGAARD, A., and OSTERGARD, E., 2011. Medieval garments reconstructed: Norse clothing patterns. Hightown, Lancaster, UK: Aarhus University Press.
HALL, A. R., 1996. A survey of palaeobotanical evidence for dyeing and mordanting from British archaeological excavations. Quaternary Science Reviews, 15, pp. 635-640.
TAYLOR, G. W., 1983. Detection and identification of dyes on Anglo-Scandinavian textiles. Studies in Conservation, 28(4), pp. 153-160.
http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikdyes.html
http://vikingladyaine.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/mordants-wool-and-natural-dyes/
http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Information-on-Natural-Dyes-c567.htm
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm
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