[Artemisia] Period Norman Garb- Black?

[TClayton]

I am not a textile Laurel, but a "Norman" Laurel, so I'll take a crack at 
this...
    Black was a relative term. To dye fabric "black" required an enormous 
amount of pigment. In the period, browns, greens, blues, and even purple 
pigments were used to achieve "black". Lamp black or black wool are 
inherently black, but will not achieve a true "black" but a rather charcoal 
grey. So, blacks were often just very dark colors (think of  the "indigo" or 
"navy blue" pea coat. That would have been considered "Black").  Unless 
those "textile-ophiles" out ther would care to educate me further.. :)
    This made "black" fabric possible (though I think it would have a faint 
tint of color) but very expensive. And I doubt it would stay black for long 
The Bayeux Tapestry cannot be scrutinized to closely (it has green horses!), 
but it does give a representation of the types of colors used. Men are shown 
wearing everything from Yellows, rusts, reds and greens to dark blues, 
browns, and even  purples... but no  "true" black.
-----Ralph, Rex Artemisia
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamar Black Sea" <tamar at coteduciel.org>
To: "Kingdom of Artemisia mailing list" <artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 4:23 PM
Subject: [Artemisia] Period Norman Garb- Black?


> Greetings All,
>
> Now for a completely different question: Does anyone know if black was a 
> color commonly in use for Norman clothing?
>
> The Norman period is not my time and place and I am pretty foggy about the 
> dyes available at the time. I have been looking at the Regia Anglorum site 
> for info on textiles and patterns, but I am still pretty vague about 
> colors. Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks in advance for any info or links.
>
> YIS,
> Tamar
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