Purple is a color that evokes mystery, creativity, and imagination. Throughout history, purple has been associated with royalty, spirituality, and magic. The rarity and expense of purple dyes in ancient times meant that only the wealthy and powerful could afford to wear the color purple. So what gives purple its mystical properties? The secret lies in its intriguing ingredients.
Purple gets its color from mixing red and blue. On the light spectrum, purple falls between the warmer red tones and cooler blue hues. This makes purple a color of balance, merging the passion of red with the calm of blue.
The most common natural purple dyes came from mollusks and lichens. Let’s explore the fascinating ingredients that lend purple its symbolic meaning and unique color properties.
Mollusk Purple
For thousands of years, the primary source of the color purple was mollusks from the genus Murex and Purpura. Found in warm, coastal waters, these sea snails were painstakingly harvested and processed to extract purple and indigo dyes.
How Mollusk Purple Was Made
To make purple dye from mollusks, thousands of the snails had to be gathered by hand. Next, a small gland, known as the hypobranchial gland, was removed from each mollusk. This tiny gland, sometimes called the “purple factory”, is where the snail produces mucus that is actually a clear, yellowish liquid. When exposed to sunlight, enzymes within the mucus cause a chemical reaction that turns the substance purple.
By harvesting the glands from mollusks and exposing the mucus to sunlight, ancient people could create the precious purple dye. It took an enormous number of mollusks to yield just a small amount of dye. Some scholars estimate that it took roughly 10,000 mollusks to create just one gram of Tyrian purple dye! This extremely labor-intensive process made the dye incredibly valuable.
Murex Brandaris – Spiny Dye-Murex
One type of mollusk that was commonly used to make purple dye is called Murex brandaris, also known as the spiny dye-murex. This medium-sized sea snail is found in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. Growing up to 5 inches long, this mollusk has spiky protrusions on its shell.
To extract the purple dye, the snail shell had to be cracked open carefully to remove the mucus gland intact. If the gland was damaged or exposed to oxygen, it would not produce the precious purple color.
Purpura Patula – Purple Dye Murex
Another significant source of purple in ancient times was Purpura patula, known as the purple dye murex. A bit smaller than Murex brandaris, this sea snail has a squat shell with short spines. It is found in warm coastal waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Purpura patula was heavily exploited by the Aztecs and Mayans to produce vibrant purple dyes for textiles. In fact, Mexico’s purple dye industry was an important source of wealth for the Aztec empire. So essential were these mollusks that they were even used as a form of currency!
Unique Properties
The purple dye extracted from certain mollusks had unique qualities that made it highly prized:
- Royal purple color with red undertones
- Did not fade or wash out easily
- Improved with exposure to sunlight
- Extremely expensive due to rarity
The exceptionally high value and scarcity of mollusk purple meant it became associated with royalty, prestige, and spiritual rituals.
Lichen Purple
In addition to mollusks, certain lichens were also used as natural sources of purple dyes. Lichens are composite organisms, consisting of a fungus together with a photosynthetic partner such as green algae. Growing on rocks and trees, lichens produce unique pigments. When soaked in ammonia, these pigments can yield vivid purples and reds.
Roccella Tinctoria – Dyer’s Lichen
One of the main lichen species used to create purple dyes is Roccella tinctoria, commonly called dyer’s lichen. This delicate lichen is grey or yellowish white in color. But when processed, it produces deep red and purple shades.
Dyer’s lichen is native to the Mediterranean, Macaronesia, and parts of Africa. To extract the dye, the whole lichen was soaked in stale urine or ammonia for several weeks. As the ammonia slowly penetrates and reacts with pigments in the lichen, it turns brilliant shades of crimson, purple, and lilac.
Ochrolechia Tartarea – Cudbear Lichen
Another type of lichen called Ochrolechia tartarea was used to make a purple dye known as “cudbear.” Mainly found in Scotland, this light grey lichen grows on rocks, cliffs, and trees.
To produce the dye, the entire lichen was boiled, dried, and ground into a powder. By adding variouschemicals to the powder, dyers could create hues ranging from pink to purple. Though not as saturated or lightfast as mollusk purple, cudbear became an important dye in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Unique Properties
Lichen purple dyes had some key characteristics:
- Range of red, pink and purple tones
- Less expensive alternative to mollusk purple
- Created lasting colors on wool and linen
- Environmentally sustainable compared to mollusks
While lichen dyes could not match the prestige of Tyrian purple, they offered dyers a versatile source of rich natural purple tones.
Rare and Precious Purple
Whether derived from crushed mollusks or ammonia-soaked lichens, purple dyes were incredibly precious and time-consuming to produce in the ancient world. The costly process and striking color imbued purple with symbolic associations of luxury, status, and spiritual wisdom.
Royals and nobles flaunted purple garments and home decor to display their wealth and taste. Ancient cultures like the Phoenicians established lucrative purple dye industries that gave them economic and political power. The rarity of purple in nature led cultures worldwide to associate it with qualities like magic, mystery, and imagination.
So what are the ingredients that make purple so special? For thousands of years, creative craftspeople discovered and perfected natural ways to capture the color purple for pigments and dyes. The mollusks and lichens they painstakingly harvested and processed gave purple its vivid hues and symbolic meaning that still lingers today. Though modern synthetic dyes have made purple more accessible, it retains its aura of creativity, spirituality, and royalty.
Conclusion
The prized color purple has always held an air of luxury, power and mysticism. In the ancient world, purple dyes were incredibly challenging and expensive to produce from natural ingredients like mollusks and lichens. The rarity and prestige of purple meant it became associated with royalty, wealth, and ritual.
Specific species of sea snails in the Murex and Purpura genera were the primary source of deep purple shades. Thousands of these tiny mollusks had to be laboriously harvested and processed to yield just a minute amount of rich, lasting purple dye. Certain lichens, like cudbear and dyer’s lichen, also provided ancient dyers with a range of pink to purple tones from sustainable wild sources.
Purple dyes derived from mollusks and lichens share some key features: a striking color unavailable in other natural dyes, great difficulties to produce even a small quantity, and a symbolic connection to status and spirituality. The natural ingredients that make up purple paint a picture of resourcefulness, prestige and imagination that still rings true today. So whether woven into a robe fit for royalty or mixed on an artist’s palette, the genesis of purple remains found in the natural world.
