From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia
Ethnographic sources from Finland and Estonia in the 18th to early 20th centuries often mention alder bark as a dye source. The bark of grey alder (<i>Alnus incana</i>) and black alder (<i>Alnus glutinosa</i>) was used to dye wool and linen yarns reddish, paint leather red, a...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Heritage |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/5/150 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849327126498508800 |
|---|---|
| author | Krista Wright Debbie Bamford Saara Tahvanainen Liis Luhamaa Riina Rammo Riikka Räisänen |
| author_facet | Krista Wright Debbie Bamford Saara Tahvanainen Liis Luhamaa Riina Rammo Riikka Räisänen |
| author_sort | Krista Wright |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ethnographic sources from Finland and Estonia in the 18th to early 20th centuries often mention alder bark as a dye source. The bark of grey alder (<i>Alnus incana</i>) and black alder (<i>Alnus glutinosa</i>) was used to dye wool and linen yarns reddish, paint leather red, and darken linen fishing nets. These recipes were simple folk craft and are not represented in dye books. Combining various sources, a selection of ethnographic and historical recipes was reconstructed through dyeing experiments to deepen the knowledge of alder bark dyeing practices and to recreate a colour palette based on past recipes. To understand the properties of the alder bark dye, the dyed textile samples were tested according to the ISO standards for washing, rubbing, and light fastness, and colour was recorded with the CIELab values. Our results show that it was possible to obtain different shades of brown, reddish brown, and dark brown. The colour fastness of dyed wool samples was moderate or good. Slight colour changes in the washed samples compared to the untreated ones were observed, which can be due to the standard’s heavily alkaline detergent. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b7758dadc2ae4a9fa21f657e525f305b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2571-9408 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage |
| spelling | doaj-art-b7758dadc2ae4a9fa21f657e525f305b2025-08-20T03:47:58ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082025-04-018515010.3390/heritage8050150From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and EstoniaKrista Wright0Debbie Bamford1Saara Tahvanainen2Liis Luhamaa3Riina Rammo4Riikka Räisänen5Department of Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Siltavuorenpenger 5, 00014 Helsinki, FinlandSchool of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UKDepartment of Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Siltavuorenpenger 5, 00014 Helsinki, FinlandInstitute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, EstoniaInstitute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, EstoniaDepartment of Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, Siltavuorenpenger 5, 00014 Helsinki, FinlandEthnographic sources from Finland and Estonia in the 18th to early 20th centuries often mention alder bark as a dye source. The bark of grey alder (<i>Alnus incana</i>) and black alder (<i>Alnus glutinosa</i>) was used to dye wool and linen yarns reddish, paint leather red, and darken linen fishing nets. These recipes were simple folk craft and are not represented in dye books. Combining various sources, a selection of ethnographic and historical recipes was reconstructed through dyeing experiments to deepen the knowledge of alder bark dyeing practices and to recreate a colour palette based on past recipes. To understand the properties of the alder bark dye, the dyed textile samples were tested according to the ISO standards for washing, rubbing, and light fastness, and colour was recorded with the CIELab values. Our results show that it was possible to obtain different shades of brown, reddish brown, and dark brown. The colour fastness of dyed wool samples was moderate or good. Slight colour changes in the washed samples compared to the untreated ones were observed, which can be due to the standard’s heavily alkaline detergent.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/5/150alder barktraditional dyeingethnographic recipesunlight exposurebirch ash lyelight fastness |
| spellingShingle | Krista Wright Debbie Bamford Saara Tahvanainen Liis Luhamaa Riina Rammo Riikka Räisänen From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia Heritage alder bark traditional dyeing ethnographic recipe sunlight exposure birch ash lye light fastness |
| title | From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia |
| title_full | From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia |
| title_fullStr | From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia |
| title_short | From Bark to Dye—Ethnographic Black and Grey Alder Recipes from Finland and Estonia |
| title_sort | from bark to dye ethnographic black and grey alder recipes from finland and estonia |
| topic | alder bark traditional dyeing ethnographic recipe sunlight exposure birch ash lye light fastness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/5/150 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kristawright frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia AT debbiebamford frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia AT saaratahvanainen frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia AT liisluhamaa frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia AT riinarammo frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia AT riikkaraisanen frombarktodyeethnographicblackandgreyalderrecipesfromfinlandandestonia |