Rose madder
Encyclopedia
Rose Madder is the commercial name sometimes used to designate a paint
made from the pigment Madder Lake - a traditional lake pigment
, extracted from the common madder plant (Rubia tinctorum
).
Madder Lake contains two organic
red dye
s: alizarin
and purpurin. As a paint, it has been described as "a fugitive, transparent, nonstaining, mid valued, moderately dull violet red pigment in tints and medum solutions, darkening to an impermanent, dull magenta red in masstone."
since antiquity in central Asia
and Egypt
, where it was grown as early as 1500 BC. Cloth dyed with madder root dye was found in the tomb of the Pharaoh
Tutankhamun
, in the ruins of Pompeii
and ancient Corinth. It was included in the Talmud as well as mentioned in writings by Pliny the Elder, and other literary figures, as 'rubio', used in paintings by J. M. W. Turner, and as a color for ceramics remnants of its use have been found at the Baths of Titus. Madder was introduced and then cultivated in Spain by the Moors. It has been found on an Egyptian tomb painting from the Graeco-Roman period, diluted with gypsum to produce a pink color.
The production of a lake pigment from madder seems to have been first invented by the ancient Egyptians. Several techniques and recipes developed. Ideal color was said to come from plants 18 to 28 months old that had been grown in calcareous soil, which is full of lime and typically chalky. Most were considered relatively weak and extremely fugitive until 1804 when the English
dye maker George Field refined the technique of making a lake
from madder by treating it with alum
and an alkali
.
The resulting Madder Lake had a less fugitive color and could be used more efficaciously, for example by blending it into a paint. Over the following years, it was found that other metal salts, including those containing iron
, tin
, and chromium
, could be used in place of alum to give madder-based pigments of various other colors.
In 1827, the French
chemists Pierre-Jean Robiquet and Colin began producing Garancine, the concentrated version of natural madder.
They then found that Madder Lake contained two colorants, the red alizarin
and the more rapidly fading purpurin. Purpurin is only present in the natural form of madder, and gives a distinctive orange/red generally warmer tone that pure synthetic alizarin does not. Purpurin fluoresces yellow to red under UV light, while synthetic alizarin slightly shows violet. Alizarin was discovered before Purpurin, by heating the ground madder with acid and potash. A yellow vapor crystallized into bright red needles: Alizarin. This alizarin concentrate, makes only 1% of the madder root.
Natural rose madder supplied half the world with red, up until 1868, when its alizarin component became the first natural dye to be synthetically duplicated by Carl Graebe and Carl Liebermann. Advances in the understanding of chemistry: chemical structures, chemical formulas, and elemental formulas, aided these Berlin based scientists in discovering that alizarin
had a anthracene
base. However, their recipe was not feasible for large scale production; it required expensive and volatile substances, specifically bromine.
William Perkins, the inventor of mauve, filed a patent in June 1869, for a new way to produce alizarin without bromine. Graebe, Liebermann and Heinrich Caro filed a patent for a similar process just one day before Perkins did- yet both patents where granted, as Perkins had been sealed first. They divided the market in half: Perkins sold to the English market, and the scientists from Berlin to the United States and mainland Europe.
Because this synthetic alizarin dye could be produced for a fraction of the cost of the natural madder dye, it quickly replaced all madder-based colorants then in use (in, for instance, British army red coats
that had been a shade of madder from the late 17th century to 1870 & French military cloth, often called 'Turkey Red'). In turn, alizarin itself has now been largely replaced by the more light-resistant quinacridone
pigments originally developed at DuPont
in 1958.
It is still manufactured in traditional ways to meet the demands of the fine art market.
name: Natural Red 9 abbreviated NR9.
French
name: laque de garance.
Italian
name: lacca di robbia.
Rose Madder Genuine is sometimes used to specify a paint derived from the root of the madder plant in the traditional manner. It is still manufactured and used by some but is too fugitive for professional artistic use.
Alizarin Crimson is a paint very similar in color to Rose Madder Genuine but derived from synthetic Alizarin
.
Rose Madder Hue is sometimes used to specify a paint made from other pigments but meant to approximate the color of Rose Madder.
Rose Madder, the pigment, is derived from a herbaceous perennial called Rubia Tinctorum L.
Turkey Red
Alizarin's Chemical Composition: 1,2 dihydroxyanthraquinone (C14H8O4)
Purpurin's Chemical Composition: 1,2,4 trihydroxyanthraquinone (C14H8O5)
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
made from the pigment Madder Lake - a traditional lake pigment
Lake pigment
A lake pigment is a pigment manufactured by precipitating a dye with an inert binder, usually a metallic salt. The word lake is a homonym of lake as body of water and does not refer to it....
, extracted from the common madder plant (Rubia tinctorum
Rubia tinctorum
Rubia tinctorum, the common madder or dyer's madder, is a plant species in the genus Rubia.The plant's roots contain several polyphenolic compounds like 1,3-Dihydroxyanthraquinone , 1,4-Dihydroxyanthraquinone , 1,2,4-Trihydroxyanthraquinone and 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone...
).
Madder Lake contains two organic
Organic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
red dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s: alizarin
Alizarin
Alizarin or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound with formula that has been used throughout history as a prominent dye, originally derived from the roots of plants of the madder genus.Alizarin was used as a red dye for the English parliamentary "new model" army...
and purpurin. As a paint, it has been described as "a fugitive, transparent, nonstaining, mid valued, moderately dull violet red pigment in tints and medum solutions, darkening to an impermanent, dull magenta red in masstone."
History
Madder has been cultivated as a dyestuffNatural dye
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources – roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood — and other organic sources such as fungi and lichens....
since antiquity in central Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where it was grown as early as 1500 BC. Cloth dyed with madder root dye was found in the tomb of the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
, in the ruins of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
and ancient Corinth. It was included in the Talmud as well as mentioned in writings by Pliny the Elder, and other literary figures, as 'rubio', used in paintings by J. M. W. Turner, and as a color for ceramics remnants of its use have been found at the Baths of Titus. Madder was introduced and then cultivated in Spain by the Moors. It has been found on an Egyptian tomb painting from the Graeco-Roman period, diluted with gypsum to produce a pink color.
The production of a lake pigment from madder seems to have been first invented by the ancient Egyptians. Several techniques and recipes developed. Ideal color was said to come from plants 18 to 28 months old that had been grown in calcareous soil, which is full of lime and typically chalky. Most were considered relatively weak and extremely fugitive until 1804 when the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
dye maker George Field refined the technique of making a lake
Lake pigment
A lake pigment is a pigment manufactured by precipitating a dye with an inert binder, usually a metallic salt. The word lake is a homonym of lake as body of water and does not refer to it....
from madder by treating it with alum
Alum
Alum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate with the formula KAl2.12H2O. The wider class of compounds known as alums have the related empirical formula, AB2.12H2O.-Chemical properties:Alums are...
and an alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
.
The resulting Madder Lake had a less fugitive color and could be used more efficaciously, for example by blending it into a paint. Over the following years, it was found that other metal salts, including those containing iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, and chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
, could be used in place of alum to give madder-based pigments of various other colors.
In 1827, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chemists Pierre-Jean Robiquet and Colin began producing Garancine, the concentrated version of natural madder.
They then found that Madder Lake contained two colorants, the red alizarin
Alizarin
Alizarin or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound with formula that has been used throughout history as a prominent dye, originally derived from the roots of plants of the madder genus.Alizarin was used as a red dye for the English parliamentary "new model" army...
and the more rapidly fading purpurin. Purpurin is only present in the natural form of madder, and gives a distinctive orange/red generally warmer tone that pure synthetic alizarin does not. Purpurin fluoresces yellow to red under UV light, while synthetic alizarin slightly shows violet. Alizarin was discovered before Purpurin, by heating the ground madder with acid and potash. A yellow vapor crystallized into bright red needles: Alizarin. This alizarin concentrate, makes only 1% of the madder root.
Natural rose madder supplied half the world with red, up until 1868, when its alizarin component became the first natural dye to be synthetically duplicated by Carl Graebe and Carl Liebermann. Advances in the understanding of chemistry: chemical structures, chemical formulas, and elemental formulas, aided these Berlin based scientists in discovering that alizarin
Alizarin
Alizarin or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound with formula that has been used throughout history as a prominent dye, originally derived from the roots of plants of the madder genus.Alizarin was used as a red dye for the English parliamentary "new model" army...
had a anthracene
Anthracene
Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of three fused benzene rings. It is a component of coal-tar. Anthracene is used in the production of the red dye alizarin and other dyes...
base. However, their recipe was not feasible for large scale production; it required expensive and volatile substances, specifically bromine.
William Perkins, the inventor of mauve, filed a patent in June 1869, for a new way to produce alizarin without bromine. Graebe, Liebermann and Heinrich Caro filed a patent for a similar process just one day before Perkins did- yet both patents where granted, as Perkins had been sealed first. They divided the market in half: Perkins sold to the English market, and the scientists from Berlin to the United States and mainland Europe.
Because this synthetic alizarin dye could be produced for a fraction of the cost of the natural madder dye, it quickly replaced all madder-based colorants then in use (in, for instance, British army red coats
Red coat (British army)
Red coat or Redcoat is a historical term used to refer to soldiers of the British Army because of the red uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the uniform of most British soldiers, , included a madder red coat or coatee...
that had been a shade of madder from the late 17th century to 1870 & French military cloth, often called 'Turkey Red'). In turn, alizarin itself has now been largely replaced by the more light-resistant quinacridone
Quinacridone
Quinacridone is a red powder. It is an organic compound with the molecular formula C20H12N2O2. It is used as a pigment; analogs bearing this motif are known as quinacridones.-Quinacridones:...
pigments originally developed at DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
in 1958.
It is still manufactured in traditional ways to meet the demands of the fine art market.
Other names
Color IndexColour Index International
Colour Index International is a reference database jointly maintained by the Society of Dyers and Colourists and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. It was first printed in 1925 but is now published exclusively on the web...
name: Natural Red 9 abbreviated NR9.
French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
name: laque de garance.
Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
name: lacca di robbia.
Rose Madder Genuine is sometimes used to specify a paint derived from the root of the madder plant in the traditional manner. It is still manufactured and used by some but is too fugitive for professional artistic use.
Alizarin Crimson is a paint very similar in color to Rose Madder Genuine but derived from synthetic Alizarin
Alizarin
Alizarin or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone is an organic compound with formula that has been used throughout history as a prominent dye, originally derived from the roots of plants of the madder genus.Alizarin was used as a red dye for the English parliamentary "new model" army...
.
Rose Madder Hue is sometimes used to specify a paint made from other pigments but meant to approximate the color of Rose Madder.
Rose Madder, the pigment, is derived from a herbaceous perennial called Rubia Tinctorum L.
Turkey Red
Alizarin's Chemical Composition: 1,2 dihydroxyanthraquinone (C14H8O4)
Purpurin's Chemical Composition: 1,2,4 trihydroxyanthraquinone (C14H8O5)
Substitutes
As all madder-based pigments are notoriously fugitive, artists have long sought a more permanent and lightfast replacement for Rose Madder and Alizarin. Recommended alternative pigments include:- Benzamida Carmine (PR176)
- Quinacridone Pyrrolodone
- Pyrrole Rubine (PR264)
- Anthraquinone red (PR177), a chemical cousin of Alizarin
- Quinacridone Violet (PV19), particularly dark and reddish varieties
- Quinacridone Magenta (PR122), for a brighter violet
- Quinacridone Rose (PV19), for a brighter violet
- Perylene Maroon (PR179], for mixing dull violets