Purple
Purple was something to die for. At least that was the case for millions of spiny murex sea snails. And then along came a scientist named William Henry Perkin.
“Purple” originally referred to what was known as “Tyrian Purple”, a dye extracted from the spiny murex sea snails found along the shores of the city of Tyre in ancient Phoenicia (modern day Lebanon). Each snail would yield only a few drops of the precious secretion. So as many as 10,000 snails were needed to produce one single tablespoon of dye!
All these snails had to be collected by hand, crushed, salted over three days and then boiled for ten more. Only then would they release the rich purple colour. To ensure the dye didn’t wash out of the fabric, a mordant (a liquid that combines with the dye to fix the colour) was needed. The most popular of these was urine.
During the classical antiquity period, and despite its funky origins (the dye was notoriously smelly), the colour symbolised royalty and political authority because only Roman Emperors and the ultra wealthy could afford it. It was illegal for a plebeian to wear anything purple.
This all changed in 1856, when a precocious scientist named William Henry Perkin (1838–1907), studying at the Royal College of Chemistry, failed in his experiment to synthetically produce quinine, a chemical that helps treat malaria. Instead of quinine, his beakers were left with a dirty brown sludge. But something amazing happened when Perkin, who was only 18 at the time, cleaned out those beakers with alcohol. The brown sludge became a bright, rich fuchsia-purple dye. This accident was the first discovery of a synthetic dye, which Perkin named “mauveine”. He quickly patented the method, and set up a factory with his brother, funded by his father. In doing so, he brought purple to the Victorian mass market.
Perkin’s timing was perfect as the textile industry was at a high. Purple clothing was very much in style, but prohibitively expensive for most. Perkin’s strong and inexpensively produced mauveine finally made this once-exclusive colour readily accessible, igniting a violet fashion frenzy. Even Queen Victoria wore a mauveine-dyed gown to the Royal Exhibition of 1862.
While purple had its regal comeback in the 20th century – worn by George VI in his official portrait and featuring as the prominent colour used for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 – it was also becoming associated with social change, e.g. the Women’s Suffrage movement and, more recently, LGBTQI+ issues. Purple was also associated with the psychedelic drug culture of the 1960s and ‘70s. Jimi Hendrix’s ambiguous 1967 song “Purple Haze” is often interpreted as referring to a psychedelic experience and constitutes a time of social, musical and artistic change. The colour has also commonly been linked to piety, is in the Bible, and has been worn by many religious leaders throughout history.
Musician “Prince” Rogers Nelson, also known by the nickname “The Purple One”, has been associated with the colour purple since the release of his Grammy- and Oscar-winning 1984 album and movie, Purple Rain. Prince died at the age of 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park home and recording studio near Minneapolis in April 2016. The following year the Pantone Color Institute announced it had added a new colour to its rainbow: “Love Symbol #2”, a shade of purple mixed in honour of the late pop-icon.
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