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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 6:10 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

BLACK

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from iron-tannin and iron-tannic-acid reactions (Iron, vinegar, German vitriol, and green vitriol).



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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 6:10 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

PURPLE

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from Brazilwood.



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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 6:11 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

GREEN

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from buckthorn berries, indigo, woad, and elderberry.

I was able to get this spectacular green leather dye from a Dutch manuscript recipe, using a mix of vinegar, verdigris, and saffron. Unfortunately, I cannot get it to dye leather at all. YET.



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Last edited by Harry Marinakis on Mon 06 Jan, 2020 4:02 am; edited 2 times in total
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 6:12 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

YELLOW

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from buckthorn berries and turmeric root.



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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 6:13 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

GREY

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from German vitriol.



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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Reading list: 13 books

Posts: 1,080

PostPosted: Sun 05 Jan, 2020 11:41 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Harry Marinakis wrote:
I was able to get this spectacular green leather dye using a mix of vinegar, verdigris, and saffron. Unfortunately, I cannot get it to dye leather at all. YET.

Wow, some dye! Big Grin

But in all seriousness, this really is great work, and I'm already finding it very helpful.

Also, perhaps surprisingly or maybe not so much, the artist in me really enjoys the overall color scheme that's emerging, here...

"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
— Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Mon 06 Jan, 2020 3:55 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

BLUE

These are the colors that can be achieved with medieval leather dyes, made from indigo, woad, and elderberry



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Scott Kowalski




Location: Oak Lawn, IL USA
Joined: 24 Nov 2006

Posts: 818

PostPosted: Mon 06 Jan, 2020 4:44 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Fantastic work Harry. Thank you so much for sharing your findings with us.
Chris Landwehr 10/10/49-1/1/09 My Mom
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Kai Lawson





Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Likes: 7 pages

Posts: 589

PostPosted: Tue 07 Jan, 2020 2:36 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Is your opus going to be publicly available in some way in the near future?
"And they crossed swords."
--William Goldman, alias S. Morgenstern
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Wed 08 Jan, 2020 8:32 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm in the process of writing a manuscript in book format. The book will be limited in scope, with about 15 dyes. I'm thinking of a publishing house that does print on demand. I can't imagine anyone wanting to print a run of this book.
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Jonathan U.




Location: United States
Joined: 24 May 2014

Posts: 4

PostPosted: Wed 08 Jan, 2020 8:48 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

This is absolutely wonderful and a boon to those of us who want to make use of natural / historical dyes. I'm really looking forward to reading it!
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Wed 08 Jan, 2020 4:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I just finished the manuscript for the book, and it's in review now. Obviously I am not going to become a millionaire with a book like this, so I would like to produce something that's truly useful. Your input would help.

The book has about 150 pages front-to-back, with 40 short chapters.

-one chapter describing the dyer's manuscripts
-sixteen chapters on dye substrates
-seven chapters on various reagents
-fourteen chapters on the best 14 dyes in red, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, grey, and brown
-cross-references for all know medieval leather dyes
-glossary
-bilbiography
-index

I am excluding quite a bit of information, but I think that I am touching on all the key points, and the most illustrative dye recipes. As I state in the preface, "The astute student will be able to apply this knowledge and re-create other dye recipes that are not included in this book."

Does this sound like anything that would be useful? Too much? Too little?

This book is a practical “how-to” guide to re-creating medieval European leather dyes for the historical craftsman, or anyone else who desires to bring natural historical colors to their leather projects. I have selected 14 of the best leather dye recipes from ancient medieval dyer’s manuscripts, and provided step-by-step instructions on how to re-create these historical dyes. The dye colors include red, black, purple, green, blue, yellow, black, grey, and brown.

Contents
1. Introduction
2. General Principles of Using Natural Leather Dyes
3. Medieval Dyer’s Manuscripts
4. Brazilwood
5. Cochineal Insects
6. Madder Root
7. Buckthorn Berries
8. Elderberry
9. Green Vitriol
10. Blue Vitriol
11. German Vitriol
12. Roman Vitriol
13. Shoemaker’s Dye (Atramentum)
14. Elemental Iron
15. Indigo Blue
16. Woad
17. Soap
18. Turmeric Root
19. Saffron Crocus
20. Chalk
21. Gallnuts
22. Gum Arabic
23. Lime
24. Lye
25. Roche Alum
26. Vinegar
27. To Make a Most Perfect Brazil (Plictho #17)
28. To Make a Good Brazil in Another Manner (Plictho #18)
29. To Dye Skins Black (Plictho #173)
30. To Make Black Tanned Skins (Plictho #203)
31. To Dye Skins of a Very Beautiful and Good Purple (Segreti #330)
32. To Make Very Fine Colour of Brazil (Plictho #174)
33. To Dye Skins Blue (Segreti #336)
34. To Dye Skins blue, or of the color of Azure (Piedmont #1)
35. To Dye Skins Green (Segreti #333)
36. Another green of Skins (Booke #15)
37. To Make Skins Yellow (Plictho #207).
38. To Make a Yellow Colour on Skins (Booke #9)
39. To Make a Skin Gray (Plictho #177)
40. To Dye and Tan Skins in Brown (Plictho #181)
Cross Reference by Manuscript
Cross Reference by Color
Cross Reference by Substrate
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Dyer’s Glossary
Index



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Michael P. Smith




Location: Muncie, Indiana
Joined: 11 Jul 2018
Likes: 2 pages

Posts: 124

PostPosted: Wed 08 Jan, 2020 6:32 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow, that’s remarkable! Looking forward to it!
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J. Nicolaysen




Location: Wyoming
Joined: 03 Feb 2014
Likes: 32 pages

Posts: 795

PostPosted: Thu 09 Jan, 2020 6:08 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Very well done Harry, thanks for sharing your research and I applaud your dedication to this. I'll buy a book when available. Keep us all posted please
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Fri 10 Jan, 2020 5:37 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Anything specific or different that people would want in such a book?
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Randy Cieszynski




Location: Bourbonnais,IL.
Joined: 12 Aug 2012

Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri 10 Jan, 2020 6:20 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I am very interested in this book. A question.....do you cover where to get the ingredients from?

Thanks!
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Mon 13 Jan, 2020 4:16 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Randy Cieszynski wrote:
I am very interested in this book. A question.....do you cover where to get the ingredients from?

Thanks!


Absolutely!
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Spencer Farrell




Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Joined: 14 Sep 2018

Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat 02 May, 2020 8:46 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Just found this thread and natural historical leather dyes is exactly what I'm looking for.

I'll make sure to purchase a copy of this book as soon as it releases.
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Dan D'Silva





Joined: 28 Apr 2007

Posts: 313

PostPosted: Sun 03 May, 2020 8:57 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello Harry and all. This is a great thread. I've been seeking a period yellow leather dye, having just completed a simple test with turmeric and found it to have too little lightfastness for outdoor use. I was wondering if you've looked into barberry. I've come across many brief references to using it on leather, but no specifics on how.
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Harry Marinakis




PostPosted: Mon 04 May, 2020 1:22 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I have never heard of barberry. It was not mentioned in any of the manuscripts that I've reviewed.

I'm afraid that, with rare except, none of the medieval dyes are washfast or sunfast.
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