Cochineal

Cochineal, Carmine, Spanish Red, Grana, “In Grain”

Countess Olivia: ‘Tis in grain, sir; 'twill endure wind and weather’

-       Twelfth Night, Shakespeare

History

Cochineal was used as a scarlet dye by the Aztecs for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.  After the arrival of the Conquistadors, the harvesting of the Spanish Red for export to Europe began, early in the 16^th century.

In 1575, 80 tonnes of cochineal was imported to Europe by the Spanish from the New World (Finlay).  Only found in Central America, the government of Spain controlled the trade of cochineal.  Italian dyers shunned cochineal in favor of the already established dye kermes, made from the dried bodies of the female shield louse or scale insect (Kermes ilicis) (Schetky).  The use of kermes was first recorded in 1727 BCE and it was long the standard red dye for silk, wool and leather, but the intense colorific value and relative cheapness of cochineal soon eliminated most of the kermes use in England, so Spain hung on to control of their lucrative monopoly. (Grierson)

A carmine dye, cochineal is extracted from the female of a scale insect, the cochineal (Dactylopius coccus), which feeds on prickly pear cacti, which remained unknown to rest of Europe for centuries.

Dyeing with Cochineal

Without a mordant, the cochineal is a fugitive dye; however, with the addition of alum, cochineal is both light and wash-fast (Maiwa).  The addition of cream of tartar is said to make a redder scarlet, however, I did not see this.

I first ground up one ounce of cochineal with a mortar and pestle and put them in an enameled pot.  I covered the ground cochineal with 3 inches of water and boiled it for 20 minutes. After I strained out the pulp, I returned it to the pot and boiled it again.  I repeated this step once more.  This concentrate was then diluted at the time of dyeing (1.5 L of water to 0.5L of dye concentrate).

I used two alum mordants, one with 5mL of Al 2.5 L of water and the other with 5mL of alum and 2.5 mL of tannin in 2.5 L of water.   I used the same amounts for the copperas mordants.  The fabrics I dyed were cotton, linen, silk, and wool.

The cellulose fibres did not take up the dye well (cottons and linens).  However, the protein fabrics (wool and silk) dyed darkly and evenly.

 

Cochineal dye on alum mordanted linen, silk and wool

 

The 'black' is protein mordanted in iron

Sources

Finlay, Victoria, 2002.  Colour: Travels through the paintbox. Hodder and Stoughton, London, UK.

Haigh, J. 1800. Dyer’s Assistant

Liles, J.N. 1990. Art Craft Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes Modern Use. University of Tennessee Press.

Natural dyeing. Maiwa Handprints Limited. www.maiwa.com

Dye Recipe from the Stockholm Papyrus (for Kermes) 300-400 AD

Dye Recipes from the Mappae Clavicula (for Kermes), 821-2 AD

Lee, Raymond L. (1951). "American cochineal in European commerce, 1526-1625." Journal of Modern History, 23 (3), 205-224.

Phipps, Elena and Nobuko Shibayama (2010). Tracing Cochineal Through the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum Textile Society of America Symposium

Proceedings Textile Society of America

Sandberg, Gosta (1996). The Red Dyes: Cochineal, Madder And Murex Purple: A World Tour of Textile Techniques

Greenfield, Amy Butler (2006), A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire

Grierson, Su (1989)  . Dyeing and Dyestuffs. Aylesbury, Bucks: Shire Album 229, Shire Publications Ltd. 1989.

Schetky, Ethel Jane McD. (1986), “The Ageless Art of Dyeing.” Handbook on Dye Plants & Dyeing. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record.  (Special reprint of “Plants & Gardens” Vol. 20, No. 3)