Throughout history, humans have displayed a nasty propensity for eradicating other species. In 1453 Constantinople was sacked by the Ottoman Empire, and the ancient recipe for Tryian Purple was destroyed. Gradually over time, purple’s exclusively royal image relaxed somewhat, and, by the time of the early Roman Republic, a victorious general was allowed to wear a purple toga bordered in gold, whilst senators could wear a toga with purple stripe. And it was not until the reign of Diocletian in the third century did it become legal for the patricians to wear purple -and even then, they had to pay a hefty tax.
This ‘emperors only’ trend continued, and, by the time of Nero, anyone wearing purple risked being put to death. This was felt, by the Patrician aristocracy, to be deeply unfair as he was the only Caesar. So much so, that when he returned to Rome, he decreed that only Caesars could wear purple togas. Julius Caesar, in turn, was a huge fan of Cleopatra and by extension, her purple kingdom. Perhaps because of this, it quickly became synonymous with royalty and the sale of purple cloth remained a jealously guarded state monopoly – anyone caught attempting to manufacture the colour with inferior dyes could, well, die.Ĭleopatra was apparently a huge fan of Tyrian Purple Not only did she dress in it, but she also used it for her royal barge, the walls of her palace and even her sofas.
So much so that contemporary sources state that it was literally worth its weight in gold. With the enormous costs involved in its manufacture, Tyrian Purple was incredibly expensive. Shop Womens Tees in Tyrian Purple Shop Mens Tees in Tyrian Purpleĭuring the Roman Republic, a victorious general was allowed to wear a purple toga bordered in gold, whilst senators could wear a toga with purple stripe. Tyrian Purple is mentioned not only in Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, but even in The Bible.īut perhaps nothing speaks to its magnificence more than the fact that the name 'Phoenicia' – the civilization that birthed the colour, of which Tyre was a city (hence the name Tyrian) – is thought to mean “land of purple.” Whatever its shade, there is not denying its importance in the ancient world. The most highly prized tint resembled the deep red hue of coagulated blood, supposedly because that carried divine connotations. Strangely though, Tyrian Purple was not an exact colour, but varied significantly from a warm reddish base through to cool bluish one depending on where the shellfish originated, what mordant was used and what time of day it was dried (midday sun resulted in a more bluish tint). Tyrian Purple was an impossibly rich and vibrant hue that instantly invested a garment with an air of regal grandeur and splendour. Tyrian Purple was not an exact colour, but varied significantly from a warm reddish base through to cool bluish one. Even the clothes that had been dyed with them had a distinctive odour of fish, urine and sea.” According to historians of the time, the smell was so diabolical that “Purple vats had to be outside the city walls because no one could live next to the horrible smell. Pause, if you will, and picture hundreds of vats of rotting shellfish bubbling away for ten days in a heady stew of human urine mixed with wood ash. To ensure the dye didn’t wash out of the fabric, a mordant (a liquid that combines with the dye to render it holdfast) was needed. Only then would they release the rich purple colour. By some accounts as many as 250,000 snails to produce one single tablespoon of dye!Īll these snails had to be collected by hand, crushed, salted over three days and then boiled for ten more. Not just any old snail, mind you, but from several species of predatory sea snails known as Poirieria Zelandica, commonly called the spiny murex, found predominantly in the eastern Mediterranean.Įach snail produced only a few drops of the precious secretion, and so vast quantities were needed for commercial purposes. In fact, it would probably be more accurate to call it a 'back-end' story, seeing as how the famous purple dye was actually extracted from a gland just behind the rectum of a snail.Įach snail produced only a few drops of the precious secretion, and as many as 250,000 snails were required to produce one single tablespoon of dye! But Tyrian Purple – arguably the most noble colour of them all –has a truly ugly back story that’s more likely to fill you with revulsion. Many of the colours we’ve launched have quaint origin tales that imbue them with a certain charm.
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