The Materials

safflower

milkweed

indigo

pomegranate

henna

madder root

The artistic superiority of natural dyes and handspun yarn is indisputable; it is reflected in the passion that the collectors and antique dealers express in distinguishing between "good" and "bad" colors, and between "living" and "dead" wool. Indeed, the dramatic differences in prices paid for vintage carpets with natural dyes, as opposed to merely old carpets woven with aniline or chrome (synthetic) dyes, bears directly on the connection between beauty and materials.

The fate of natural dyes corresponds to the fate of handspun yarn: both died a quick death when technology found cheaper, more efficient substitutes. The list of reasons to use synthetic dyes and machine-processed yarns over natural dyes and hand-spun yarn is much longer than the list of reasons to keep them alive, as the former is about ease and practicality and catering to mass markets while the latter depends on hard work and talent, the slow (by comparison) movement of hands. One thrives on fickleness and fashion and a short attention span, announcing the ever arriving newness with the speed of headlines, while the other asks you to consider infinity. Infinite variation is at the heart of natural dyes, which include, among many ancient sources, madder root, indigo, milkweed, pomegranate, osage, cutch and cochineal.

Abrash, the striations of color that run through terra cotta, flexing apricot and then turning russet, then back to infinite variations on the theme of terra cotta, provides the perfect mirror to nature. Look at the earth and you see abrash, in mountain ranges, desserts, the sea, in autumn, in the grain of old wood furniture. Look into the naturally dyed carpets and you see the memory of its own making, line by horizontal line. The partnership of natural dyes and handspun wool has a long history, it has been with us for thousands of years; its alchemical properties helped form the perception that certain colors were as precious as gold. As in any partnership, they depend on one another, separate them and they both suffer: the wool from dullness, the color from lack of character.

Peter Davies, author of The Tribal Eye: Antique Kilims of Anatolia, (Rizzoli) helps to clarify the differences between natural and synthetic dyes with the following technical explanation:

"Under an electron microscope, a wool fiber dyed with natural dyes has more of a speckled rather than a solidly colored appearance. As a result of these microscopic differences, the human eye perceives the natural dyed yarn as soft and muted. Conversely, the eye perceives wool dyed by synthetics as harsher, more aggressive, more extroverted in character. Not only do natural and synthetic dyes take differently to wool, but there are also important differences in the way natural and synthetic dyes are perceived by the human eye and brain. A dye, whether synthetic or natural, absorbs certain wavelengths of light and reflects others. Natural dyes tend to reflect a greater mix of wavelengths than do synthetics, which are distilled and therefore more precise and pure. In other words, natural dyes rarely appear to be a single hue. Instead of true primary red, for instance, the greater likelihood is that a natural red will appear as reddish-yellow or reddish-blue. By contrast, the hues of synthetics are pure reds, blues and yellows. The broadness or narrowness of the range of wave-lengths reflected by dyes is an important factor in how readily different hues harmonize. If, for instance three strands of wool are each synthetically dyed red, blue and yellow and placed side-by-side, the effect of the combination will be disharmonious. Whereas if three strands dyed indigo blue, madder red, and milkweed yellow are similarly placed, the effect will be quite harmonious. It is precisely because natural dyes are impure, and therefore reflect a broad range of wave-lengths, that harmonious combinations are more possible. It is the overlapping of the hues that make for color harmony..." (Rug News)