Abfeilinch: filings, presumably of iron. Ferrous Oxide, or rust, is one of the few dyes that requires no mordant to make it colourfast. It produces, predictably, a reddish/rust-brown hue.
Alaun: Alum, or Aluminium Potassium Sulfate. One of
the most common mordants in the dye industry, even today, it was widely
used during the middle ages to make color fast on fabric. It is used in
solution in the above instructions, and called alaunwazzer, or
"alum-water". In modern recipies, the fabric/fiber is usually boiled in a
alum-water solution, wrung out and rinsed, and then put into the dye bath.
In most of the above recipies, however, it seems that the dyestuff was
combined with the alum in one solution.
Attichpleter: Leaves of the dwarf elder
tree. There are two recipies in the manuscript which include elder; in
one, which specifies that the leaves be used it is used in combination
with indigo to produce blue. In another, elder--whether the leaves or the
whole plant is uncertain--is used to make a green dye. (see the notes for
"Holdern". )
Auripigmentum: orpiment (arsenic
trisulfide). This dangerous chemical, used extensively as a pigment for
painting and illumination at the time, produced a bright yellow dye.
Aychephel: Oak galls, those bulbous objects
on oak trees which are actually infections caused by wasps. Oak galls
have long been used to make a black dye. As they are so rich in tannin, a
natural mordant, no other mordant is necessary. The addition of oak galls
to a dye bath will dull or mute the resulting color. It is one of the
more common ingredients in medieval recipies for ink, and darkens with
time and exposure to air.
Chrebsen: Crabs. One of the least believable
recipes in the manuscript specifies that crabshells be boiled, finely
ground, and combined with verdigris to make a red color on cloth.
Ezzeich: The translation of this word is
confusing; I at first thought it to be the MHD equivilant for the modern
German word essig, or "vinegar", which was used and is used today
as a mordant for fabric. In his book "Ein Buch von Alten Farben",
however, Emil Ploss translates the word to mean "lime water", a water
solution of carbon hydroxide. Lime Water was mention in Thomas Cooper's
19th century manual on dyeing as a way to bring the color out in a dye
bath, to make it stronger and clearer. The only definitive way to find
out which translation is correct would be to follow the instructions using
both materials, and seeing which works the best; if anyone does this,
please let me know the results of the experiment!
Grünspat: Verdigris, a combination of
copper
acetate and copper salts, usually used as a pigment in paintings and
illuminations of the time. The pigment is a deep greenish-blue in hue.
Gumi: Gum Arabic. Gum arabic was used in inks
and pigments, and in these recipies is used in combination with the
water-insoluble ingredients lapis lazuli, cinnabar, and verditris to help
the coloring agent stick fast to the fabric. Using Gum arabic produces a
stiff, rather brittle fabric.
Harn: Urine. Urine has enjoyed a long history as
an aid to dyeing cloth. The minerals and salts in uric acid, as well as
the ammonia it contains, makes it a very good mordant as well as producing
a number of different colouring effects when used with various dyes.
Holdern: Elder. Whether the leaves, berries
or the whole plant is used isn't specified; Elderberries have been used
to make a rather fugitive purple-grey dye, and the leaves contain a
noticeable amount of tannin, which works as a mordant.
Indich: Indigo (indigofera tinctoria) was
obtained from the leaves of a plant grown in India and Egypt for thousands
of years. It was used by the Ancient egyptians as a dye, and its
popularity as a strong blue dye has remained constant throughout the
millenia. Indigo contains a chemical which turns blue upon oxidation, and
requires careful and prolonged processing to produce a good blue. Many of
the old recipies for indigo include the use of urine. (see Harn)
Kalch: Chalk, probably a form of limestone or a
similar mineral, is used with brasilwood in one of
the Innsbruck recipies, possibly in the same capacity as lime water (see
ezzeich)
Lasurblau/Lasawr The stone lapis lazuli,
which in ground form was one of the major pigments used by medieval
artists, was also used to dye cloth. Gum Arabic was
used to help it stick to the fabric.
Massalterein/s: Ploss translates this into
the latin Acer campestre, which is a small maple, no more than 30
feet in height, and quite drought tolerant. Unfortunately, I do not know
the vernacular English name. The bark of the Norwegian maple, Acer
Platinoides, produces a reasonably colorfast rose-tan or brown dye, as
does the bark of the Silver maple.
Menschenharn: Human Urine. See Harn.
Minig/Menninge Lead Oxide. This is used to make
a red colour. I can't find any example of it in modern use, most likely
because of the danger involved, and have no information on the colour it
produced.
Nusscheln: Nutshells, most likely
Walnut, which produce a dark brown color.
Pech: Pitch. Pitch is specified in one of the
above recipies for brown, in addition to rusty iron (ferrous oxide). What
part the pitch played in the dye process is unknown--whether it was only a
dyestuff, or a mordant to make the color fast as well.
Peizzelpaum: the Barberry (Berberis
Vulgaris) is well known for the bright yellow dye, somewhat fugitive,
which can be obtained from its berries.
Presilig: Brasilwood (Caesalpinia sappan).
Although the modern name refers to the dyes found in the wood of
Caesalpinia echinata, discovered in Brasil, the wood refered to in this
manuscript came from Sri Lanka, India and Malasia. It produces hues
ranging from pink to a deep claret, and is more fugitive than madder or
cochineal. Different mordants produca a variety of different colors.
Rostiges Eisen : Rusty iron, or ferrous
oxide. (See Abfeilinch)
Zynober Cinnabar, or vermilion (Mercuric
sulfide). This pigment, also used for painting, was not water soluble and
produced a bright orange-red color.