CHAPTER XVIII—THE INFLUENCE OF THE WAR UPON THE DYESTUFF
INDUSTRY 260
Rise of the German Dyestuff Monopoly—Ruin of the English Dyestuff Industry—Dyestuff Industry in the United States—Changed Conditions Due to the War—Lists of Best Dyestuffs.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES IN COLOR
PLATE
I Indigo dyed batik from Madras _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
II Japanese towelling, showing impression of fresh damp leaves 26
III Same towelling after immersion in iron spring 30
IV (_a_) Example of tied and dyed work } 210 (_b_) Example of tied and discharged work }
V Japanese towelling stencilled in resist and dyed by immersion in iron spring 230
ILLUSTRATIONS IN HALF-TONE
FIG.
1 Shellfish used by the ancients for Tyrian purple 12
Sir W. H. Perkin 42
2 Tied and dyed headdress from an Inca tomb in Peru 192
3 Shikar chundri, from Rajputana, with knots still untied 196
4 Same chundri untied and shaken out 198
5 Bagobo headdress from the Island of Mindanao 200
6 Sample of tied and dyed work, “tied on itself” 202
7 Sample of tied and dyed work, “tied in bands” 204
8 Tied and dyed work—Folding the cloth 206
9 Starting to tie 206
10 Centre portion tied 206
11 Centre and corners tied 208
12 Dyed, untied and shaken out 208
13 Japanese stencil knife 212
14 Japanese stencil brushes 212
15 Japanese stencil, showing holes punched by hand tool 216
16 Japanese stencil, showing use of stops 216
17 Japanese stencil, showing use of sewing instead of stops 216
18 Japanese stencils, showing use of both stops and net 218
19 Large and handsome Japanese stencil, showing use of net 224
20 “Teapot” model of tjanting 248
21 Walther glass tjanting 248
22 “Wax pencil” model of tjanting 248
23 Javanese tjantings 250
24 American modification of Javanese tjanting 250
DIAGRAMS IN THE LETTERPRESS
Primary Colors 73
Mixed Colors 79
PREFACE
When a new text-book is offered to an innocent and long-suffering public about such an ancient subject as Dyes and Dyeing, it is, perhaps, the very least that the author can do, to explain briefly his reasons for hoping that his particular book may prove of some special usefulness.
As a matter of fact this book is intended for the use of craftsmen and others who are trying to dye and stain textiles by hand and on a small scale, rather than for professional dyers or dyeing chemists who are interested in factory dyeing, conducted on a large scale. For the latter there is little or no difficulty in getting any information that they desire, either from the large and carefully written text-books or, still better, from the many excellent dyeing manuals and books of directions issued at frequent intervals by the great color houses.
But for craftsmen and their like, the amateur dyers as opposed to the regular professionals, the required information is not easy to obtain. Their leaders and teachers, as a rule, profess a scorn of the wonderful discoveries which, in the last half century, have revolutionized the art of dyeing more, perhaps, than any other branch of handicraft. And the dyeing chemists and writers have devoted themselves almost exclusively to the far larger and more important and more profitable field of commercial or professional dyeing, and only here and there is one found who has given any special attention to the dyes and processes needed by those working only on a small scale.
For my own part, after teaching the principles and practice of modern dyeing to class after class of chemical students at Columbia, my attention was called to this particular branch of the subject by finding, one spring, that some friends had started a hand-weaving industry at a settlement house in which I was interested, but had not made any arrangement for a dyehouse at the same time. This was a serious omission because it is almost impossible to buy in the market raw materials for hand-woven rugs, table-covers, and the like, that are dyed just the right shade and, at the same time, are fast to both light and washing; and, unless this last is guaranteed, there is little or no excuse for charging the large prices necessary to pay for the extra expense of the hand labor.
Wishing, therefore, to help out my friends, I offered to assist as far as possible in this part of the work. That summer was spent on the St. Lawrence, where it was possible to study some of the textile work of the French _habitants_ whose dyeing processes, designs, and looms had descended from mother to daughter since the old Colonial days; and in the autumn I fitted up a little dyehouse and started with a small but intelligent class of neighbors who were working at the looms.
Of course, it was foolish to attempt to teach them the scientific chemical formulæ used by my students uptown. The processes must be short and simple—must give the desired shades on cotton, linen, wool, and silk in the course of an hour or an hour and a half at the outside, counting from the time when the class was called to order. And the colors must be absolutely fast to light, and, wherever possible, to washing also.
The work was very interesting and proved successful enough, at least as far as the dyeing went. After a few months some visiting reporter, in an article on Greenwich House and its industries, mentioned the dyeing, in a magazine, and stated that the colors resulting were not only beautiful but fast. Immediately I was bombarded with letters from all over the country, begging for information about permanent dyestuffs to be used for hand-woven textiles. Requests came from friends and acquaintances to help them in various side branches of the subject, such as feather dyeing, leather dyeing and staining, stencilling, tied and dyed work, and, above all, Batik. And it soon became a source of much interest to look up some old process of dyeing, originating perhaps in the East, perhaps among the ancient Egyptians, and to work it out with the best modern dyestuffs.
Finally, my correspondence grew so burdensome that I arranged with the well-known New York magazine, _The Craftsman_, for a series of articles upon “Modern Dyestuffs and Dyeing Processes for the Use of Craftsmen”; and from these articles the present book is a natural result.
It is hoped that it will prove useful, not only for individuals who are trying, under considerable difficulties, to get satisfactory results, by means of long-abandoned processes, upon textile materials of many sorts and kinds, but also for teachers of art in our public as well as private schools. Much attention is being given now to training the hands of children in various drawing and decorating and weaving processes. But the modern dyestuffs give a much greater opportunity to train their eyes to a sense of color and to its beauties, as well as giving them an introduction into an art which can be used at home for most useful as well as beautiful purposes.
My hearty thanks are due to many friends, notably, to Mr. Philip Clarkson, head chemist of H. A. Metz & Co., to Dr. Ludwig, of the Cassella Color Co., and to many other expert dyeing chemists, who have most kindly helped me with advice and information about many widely varying branches of the subject. Also to many of my craftsman friends, notably Mrs. C. L. Banks, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Mrs. Charlotte Busck, of this city, who have been of the greatest assistance in working out many of the problems involved in stencilling and Batik; and to Miss Mary Grey, of Hackettstown, N. J., who has kindly allowed me to insert an illustration of some of her interesting and well-designed tied work (Fig. 7). It is my earnest hope that the information contained in this book may encourage and assist other craftsmen throughout the country to come up to the high standard of these skilled textile workers.
C. E. P.