| Isatis tinctoria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Woad flowers | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Brassicaceae |
| Genus: | Isatis |
| Species: | I. tinctoria |
| Binomial name | |
| Isatis tinctoria | |
_sl5.jpg)
Isatis tinctoria, also calledwoad (/ˈwoʊd/),dyer's woad, dyer's-weed, orglastum, is aflowering plant in the familyBrassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant.
Its genus name,Isatis, derives from the ancient Greek word for the plant,ἰσάτις. It is occasionally known asAsp of Jerusalem. Woad is also the name of a bluedye produced from the leaves[1] of the plant. Woad is native to thesteppe and desert zones of theCaucasus, Central Asia to EasternSiberia andWestern Asia[2] but is now also found in South-Eastern and CentralEurope and westernNorth America.
Woad was an important source of blue dye and was cultivated throughout Europe, especially in Western and Southern Europe. In medieval times, there were important woad-growing regions in England, Germany and France. Towns such asToulouse became prosperous from the woad trade. Over time, woad's cultivation spread across Europe, where it was an important trade good until the 16th century when indigo, a plant from the New World, started to replace it.
Woad was eventually replaced by the morecolourfastIndigofera tinctoria and, in the early 20th century, both woad andIndigofera tinctoria were replaced by synthetic blue dyes. Woad has been used medicinally for centuries. The double use of woad is seen in its name: the termIsatis is linked to its ancient use to treat wounds; the termtinctoria references its use as a dye.[3] There has also been some revival of the use of woad for craft purposes.[4]
The first archaeological finds of woad seeds date to theNeolithic period. The seeds have been found in the cave of l'Audoste,Bouches-du-Rhône, France.[citation needed] Impressions of woad seeds have been reported on pottery in theIron Age settlement ofHeuneburg, Germany. Seed and pod fragments have also been found in an Iron Age pit at Dragonby, North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.[5] TheHallstatt burials of theHochdorf Chieftain's Grave andHohmichele contained textiles dyed with woad.[citation needed] It is highly likely that woad was used as a dye in ancient Egypt.[6][7][8]
Much has been made of a passage in Julius Caesar'sCommentarii de Bello Gallico (English:Commentaries on theGallic War) about the appearance of the Britons:
Omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod caeruleum efficit colorem, atque hoc horridiores sunt in pugna aspectu.
All the Britons paint themselves withvitrum, which produces a dark blue color; and for this reason they are much more frightful in appearance in battle.
Vitrum has frequently been translated as "woad" but more typically means "glass".[9] Experimental formulations of body paint made from woad mixed with different binders have yielded colours from "grey-blue, through intense midnight blue, to black".[10] While many have argued that woad was used as a pigment in tattooing, experimental work has been unsuccessful due to itscaustic nature.[11] Analysis of the Cheshire bog bodyLindow Man from the late Iron Age/early Roman period has revealed that Britons of the time may have used acopper- oriron-based pigment in body decoration.[5][12][13]
Woad was an important dyeing agent in much of Europe and parts of England during the medieval period. However, dye traders began to importindigo during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which threatened to replace locally grown woad as the primary blue dye.[9] The translation of vitrum as woad may date to this period.[14]
Woad was one of the three staples of the European dyeing industry, along withweld (yellow) andmadder (red).[15]Chaucer mentions their use by the dyer ("litestere") in his poemThe Former Age:[16]
The three colours can be seen together in tapestries such asThe Hunt of the Unicorn (1495–1505), though typically it is the dark blue of the woad that has lasted best. Medieval uses of the dye were not limited to textiles. For example, the illustrator of theLindisfarne Gospels (c. 720) used a woad-based pigment for blue paint. As does the late 13th century North Italian manual onbook illuminationLiber colorum secundum magistrum Bernardum describe its usage.
InViking Age levels at archaeological digs atYork, a dye shop with remains of both woad andmadder have been excavated and dated to the 10th century. In medieval times, centres of woad cultivation lay inLincolnshire andSomerset in England,Jülich and theErfurt area inThuringia in Germany,Piedmont andTuscany in Italy, andGascogne,Normandy, theSomme Basin (fromAmiens toSaint-Quentin),Brittany and, above all,Languedoc in France. This last region, in the triangle created byToulouse,Albi andCarcassonne, known as theLauragais, was for a long time the biggest producer of woad, orpastel, as it was locally known. One writer commented that "woad [...] hath made that country the happiest and richest in Europe."[15]
The prosperous woad merchants ofToulouse displayed their affluence in splendid mansions, many of which still stand, as theHôtel de Bernuy and theHôtel d'Assézat. One merchant, Jean de Bernuy, a Spanish Jew who had fled theSpanish Inquisition, was credit-worthy enough to be the main guarantor of the ransomed KingFrancis I after his capture at theBattle of Pavia byCharles V of Spain.[15] Much of the woad produced here was used for the cloth industry in southern France,[17] but it was also exported viaBayonne,Narbonne andBordeaux to Flanders, the Low Countries, Italy, and above all Britain and Spain.
After cropping the woad eddish could be let out for grazing sheep.[18]The woad produced in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire in the 19th century was shipped out from thePort of Wisbech,[19]Spalding andBoston,[20] both the last to northern mills and the USA. The last portable woad mill was atParson Drove, Cambridgeshire,Wisbech & Fenland Museum has a woad mill model, photos and other items used in woad production.[21]A major market for woad was atGörlitz in Lausitz.[22] The citizens of the five ThuringianFärberwaid (dye woad) towns ofErfurt,Gotha,Tennstedt,Arnstadt andLangensalza had their own charters. In Erfurt, the woad-traders gave the funds to found theUniversity of Erfurt. Traditional fabric is still printed with woad in Thuringia,Saxony andLusatia today: it is known asBlaudruck (literally, "blue print(ing)").
In the Marche region, the cultivation of the plant was an important resource for theDuchy of Urbino in Italy. To fully understand the importance of this industry in the State ofUrbino, it is enough to read the comprehensive Chapters of the art of wool in 1555, which dictated prescriptions regarding the cultivation and trade of woad, whether in loaves or macerated (powdered).[23] Testifying to the importance that this crop had in the economy in addition to the archival documents was the identification of a hundred millstones surveyed by Delio Bischi in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, the original use of which had become completely unknown as their memory had been lost.[24]
The dye chemical extracted from woad isindigo, the same dye extracted from "true indigo",Indigofera tinctoria, but in a lower concentration. Following thePortuguese discovery of the sea route to India by the navigatorVasco da Gama in 1498, great amounts of indigo were imported from Asia. Laws were passed in some parts of Europe to protect the woad industry from the competition of the indigo trade. It was proclaimed that indigo caused yarns to rot.[25] This prohibition was repeated in 1594 and again in 1603.[26] In France,Henry IV, in an edict of 1609, punished by death the use of "the false and pernicious Indian drug".[27]
With the development of a chemical process tosynthesize the pigment, both the woad and natural indigo industries collapsed in the first years of the 20th century. The last commercial harvest of woad until recent times occurred in 1932, inLincolnshire, Britain. Small amounts of woad are now grown in the UK and France to supply craft dyers.[28] The classic book about woad isThe Woad Plant and its Dye[29] by J. B. Hurry, Oxford University Press of 1930, which contains an extensive bibliography.[30]
A method for producing blue dye from woad is described inThe History of Woad and the Medieval Woad Vat (1998)ISBN 0-9534133-0-6.[31]
Woad is biodegradable and safe in the environment. In Germany, there have been attempts to use it to protect wood against decay without applying dangerous chemicals.[32] Production of woad is increasing in the UK for use ininks, particularly forinkjet printers, and dyes.
In certain locations, the plant is classified as a non-native and invasive weed. It is listed as anoxious weed by the agriculture departments of several states in the western United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.[33][34] In Montana, it has been the target of an extensive, and largely successful, eradication attempt.[35]
isbn 1973 reprint
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Techniques |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Types of dyes | ||
| Traditional textile dyes | ||
| History | ||
| Craft dyes | ||
| Reference | ||
