A Perfect Red – Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire

By Amy Butler Greenfield
Harper Collins Publishers, 2005

The desire for a rich red permanent dye and pigment was a major factor in exploring and establishing global trade routes in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Early Spanish explorers found that the Aztecs, in what is now Mexico, had the perfect red that had not been seen elsewhere up to that time. The cochineal dye came from the dried bodies of a female scale insect, Dactylopius coccus, which was parasitic on the Opunta prickly pear cacti. At that time the insects came from just one particular valley. The insects and cacti were grown on cacti farms or nopalry for the sole purpose of harvesting the insects for the dye.

Greenfield relays the fascinating account of the cochineal dye’s discovery by the Spanish and their attempt to capture and maintain the sale and distribution of it. She not only describes the origin of the dye and its history throughout the centuries, but she also describes its impact on fashion up to the present day.

Greenfield researched the history of the cochineal dye in great detail, so the book is very well documented. Her writing style is excellent, which makes this book a pleasurable read for anyone interested in the history and impact of this natural dye.

This book was published in 1987 and was written by the Keeper of Textiles at the Paisley Museum in Paisley, Scotland. The book is much broader in its content than the title suggests. It is more generally about the 19th century reproduction ‘Kashmir’ shawls famous for their paisley designs [the so-called 'hundred-year fashion']. There are six substantive chapters, each illustrated with many coloured photos.

Chapter One concerns the paisley design itself. Although this distinctive design has also been know as pine, tadpole, little onion, flower, vase, Fanny’s fern, mango, among others, what became known as the ‘paisley’ to English speakers took its name from the town of Paisley itself. No one really knows from where the design came, but many believe it originated in ancient Babylon.

The second chapter is about shawl production in the UK, Europe, and Kashmir. It describes how the different shawl shapes and paisley designs were produced, as well as how they were woven. The chapter includes many coloured photos of the shawls, design drawings, and graphed charts for weaving. As spinning and weaving technology, such as introduction of the Jacquard loom, progressed, the weavers were able to produce ever more complicated patterns.

There is a chapter about the evolution of the fashion for Kashmir shawls itself. As the shapes of women’s clothing changed over the century, the shape of the shawl changed. The original shawls came from Kashmir; they were rare and very expensive, costing up to 315 Pounds Sterling in mid 18th century. Only the ultra rich could afford them, but you got a lot for your money. Some shawls were as large as 6′ square, others 5′ wide and 10′ long. I’m curious about their weight. The author says they were heavy, but she doesn’t specify.

There is also a chapter on the shawlmakers themselves. I found this chapter particularly interest- ing because it addresses the social history of shawl weaving. The town that became later known as Paisley because it was entirely dominated by ‘paisley’ shawl production was originally a weaving outpost. The history of the town followed the ups and downs of shawl fashion. At the beginning of the 1800′s a good weaver could make over three Pounds a week. Thirty years later wages had fallen to 35 pence a week. In 1842 the entire town went bankrupt.

There are historic photos and engravings in this chapter, which help to illustrate what it was like to be a weaver in 19th century Scotland. I am struck by the similarities of one of these photos to a weaving workshop I recently visited in India. There is a chapter on Paisley’s competitors, and a chapter on the Paisley Museum, which opened in 1871. The museum now has hundreds of the highest quality shawls in its collection as well as displays of weaving equipment and other related material.

I really enjoyed this book because of its complex exploration of the subject and its many illustrations. I am particularly interested in the social history of weavers, but all of this book made for fascinating reading.

Submitted by Toby Smith

This book covers basic basket making techniques rather briefly. The focus is on using unusual materials. Twining, coiling, plaiting, and other techniques each have a chapter along with the features of the materials traditionally used with that technique. For example, twining is done with rigid elements for stakes or spokes and more pliable elements for the weavers; very soft materials are used in traditional plaiting. After the explanation, directions are given for specific projects using unusual materials such as: twigs, moss, ribbon, grape vines, paper, wire.

This is not a weaving book, rather a record of an extraordinary textile project started by an Ontario fiber artist. People from every nation in the world, represented by a person or people living in Canada, were invited to sew a square showing a significant feature of the country of their heritage. First nations people of Canada along with people from around the globe participated, to make a 120 foot magnificent, colorful quilt that is meant to celebrate the talent and diversity of Canadians.