Textiles as well as cloth colors will be briefly discussed here.
1 This is a
difficult area, as textiles and color codes changed rapidly during
the Renaissance and Baroque periods. To a large degree, the meanings
associated with textiles and colors have largly been forgotten and
lost. Thus when one reads about wearing "scarlet" (a color often
reserved for royalty, but also shades of red often signified sexuality),
it may not be clear which meaning is intended: "scarlet" the (cloth),
or "scarlet" the color (ie: white scarlet, blue scarlet,
black scarlet, crimson scarlet, etc.). 2
Similarly, we often think of colors as pertaining
to textiles, not dyed beard colors.
3
As a last example, it becomes easier to understand what aristocrats
meant when they didn't want their children to marry into the "blue"
(the color of textiles reserved for uneducated, impoverished servants).
4, 5, 6
Another problem related to cloth is the names of colors. The names
of colors most likely derived from common objects in the environment,
but environments change. Thus a color such as "wagonwheel brown" may
no longer be very descriptive. Some commonly used names for colors
include: Turkey, incarnate, carnation, ruby, crane, old medley, partridge,
maiden' hair (exotic even then!), pheasant, celestial, flybert, Isabella
(pure yellow), marigold, Paul, peach, soppes-in-wine, turtle, willow, de
roy, gingerline, pepper, grape, fawne, sage, Virginia-ffrog, zinzoline,
de paille, puke (dusky brown), grisdelin (greediline, a grey violet),
couleur de Judas, d'Espagnole malade, de baise-moi-ma-mignonne, popingay,
merde d'oye, de rat, de ciel, etc.
Important cloth used during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
This discussion is far from complete and is only intended to be
an abbreviated study.
Wool:
Worsted, worsted mixed with flax or silk. Frizadoes (of Haarlem),
rash or stammetts of Florence, Broadcloth, Russels, Sattens,
Sattens Reverse, Buffin (usually worn by tradespeople), Caddis
(resembled bureau and flannel: flocks of wool), plommette, carrells,
Fustians of Naples. Bayes (baise), arras, says, mocadoes
7, stamen,
carsey, kersies. Grograines (Buffines), Buckram. callimancoe (a
weave of an irregular design), taffeta (similar to a fine buckram
or callimanco), Spanish rugges. Other types of cloth include:
bewpers, boulters, boratoes, bustyans, bombaces, linsey-woolseyes
8,
minikins, mountains, makereles, oliotts, pomettes, plumettes,
perpetuanas, perpicuanas, serges, seyettes, sayes, stammells,
scallops, Chamlet (originally a soft, fine fabric from Syria,
Asia Minor or India, later poor imitations from Venice). Crewel
(a fine, colored woollen yarn), often used in puns (crewel garters,
crewel stocks). Durance (closely woven worsteds that lasted or
en-dured, of different patterns, including mountains, mackerels,
scallops).
Linen:
Cloth made from flax (Linum usitatissimum). Linen is also
known as Cambric. Linen can also be made from hemp. Also known as
Canvas, Dowlas, Holland, Lawn, Inkle, Lockram, and Tiffany.
Cotton:
Cotton being derived from "vegetable lamb".
Buckram, used in hose, shirts, jerkins, suits. Calico, Dimity,
Fustian-a-napes (Fustian of Naples). Holmes and Ulm were cheap
fustians.
Silk:
Eastern silks often had flower designs (tulip, eglantine,
carnation, and hyacinth). Velvets (silk) were also made from
linen, mohair, and wool. Two layers of cloth are woven, the
connecting threads between each layer being cut to produce a pile.
Silks included sarcenet, cypress 9,
taffeta, floral damasks: cloth of many colors, gold, silver,
tabine, tinsel, tissue, chamlets, sayes, velvets and plush. Thin
metal "thread" (gold and silver) was woven together with silk
(useful for cloth used for stage illumination).
10
Damask was a silk of floral or geometric pattern. Sarcenet is
a fine taffeta weave, in two qualities (thin and heavy). Satin
is a glossy silk. Taffeta is a fine, thin silk.
1
Linthicum, M. Channing; "Costume in the Drama of Shakespeare
and his Contemporaraies", Russell & Russell, 1963
2
"...scarlet (the cloth)...was made in many colors:
vermille, rouge, verte, peonace
(peacock blue), besides white and black. The use of crimson
scarlet was early limited to the use of the royal family,
noblemen, and civil officials, and in the twenty-fourth year
of Henry VIII was forbidden to servants." Ibid., p. 88
3
"... beards were dyed to harmonize with costumes or to
reflect the mood of the wearer. Grey beards were
transformed into black ones through the constant use of
lead combs; happiness over the return of a favorite might
be expressed by dying the beard carnation 'speckled with
green and russet'; Catherine-pear-colored beards indicated
a wicked disposition, and cane, straw, French crown, and
Abraham-colored beards had each a language.", Ibid., pp. 14, 15
4
Symbolism of Christian colors, Ibid., pp. 15, 16:
red (blood of Christ; justice and mercy)
blue (the Virgin; truth and eternity)
yellow (impurity of clay from which bodies are made, or earthly passions)
white (purity of the soul, or chastity)
tawny (infant Christ, white after resurrection)
5
Blazonry (heraldry: color smbolism), Ibid., pp. 17, 18:
white (faith, humility, chastity)
black (grief, constancy)
obscure or dark gray (patience)
light gray (despair)
ash (trouble, sadness)
silver (purity)
yellow (hope, joy, magnanimity)
russet (prudence)
yellow-red (deception)
green (love, joy)
blue (amity)
turquoise (jealousy)
perse (knowledge)
red (prowess)
vermillion (courage)
6
Color symbolism used in drama to signify class or social status, Ibid.,
chapter "Costume colors in the Drama":
Royal Court yellow
servants blue
fools yellow (mixed with other colors)
high clergy and high civil officials scarlet
Example: "Issue of a lord and a servant: part scarlet, part blue".
7
Mockado (mock velvet) is a cloth mixing two kinds of thread: silk and wool,
or silk and linen. Used chiefly by persons who could not afford velvet.
, Ibid., pp. 81, 82
8
Linsey-Woolsey is a cloth in which the warp is linen, and the weft is wool.
As two different kinds of thread are woven together, an metaphore has been
made whereby a conversation mixing two subjects together is viewed as
"confused talk". Ibid., p. 81
9
Cypress was a transparent cloth made of silk and linen. Crepe weaves,
known as crespin and creppin, in white, black and colors.
Often used in bongraces, tiers, and partlets. See women's "coifs".
, Ibid., pp. 118, 119
