Red dye round-up

With the last two posts addressing specific red dyes, I thought it would be good to finish out the list, to use this posting to report on other materials suggested by the literature for dyeing quills red. There are 3 convenient categories: reds from plants (not trees), reds from trees, and other reds.

Reds from plants, but not trees
For lack of a better distinction, I’m using ‘plants’ to mean those that aren’t trees; I’m sure there’s a specific word for this, but it’s not coming to mind. If any of you know it, I’d be very grateful! Bedstraw, bloodroot, and puccoon were mentioned in the earlier postings. In the course of this research, I’ve spoken with some contemporary quillworkers who use natural materials to dye their quills; from what I’ve seen, bedstraw gives a uniform red-orange. That color seems to be consistent with, say, Denys’ “flame,” but not necessarily in line with Le Clercq’s “brilliant red.” Bloodroot-dyed quills are also what I would describe as an orange-based red–and, again, based on contemporary dyed quills. In both cases, it’s probably not unreasonable to think that the intensity of the red obtained would be related to how long the quill is left in the dye bath.

I’ve not yet seen contemporary quills dyed with puccoon. If the puccoon of the literature corresponds to L.carolinense (which is precisely the if motivating this research!), I would expect puccoon-dyed quills to be a more purplish red, based on the anticipated colorant chemistry. And speaking of purplish or pinkish reds, there is a whole crop of berries that have been suggested for red quill dyes: high-bush cranberries, Solomon’s Seal berries, poke berries, blueberries, choke cherries, and wild grapes.

Reds from trees
There are a few recipes for quill dyes in the literature, and several of them call for mixing the roots or inner barks of 1 or more trees to produce a red dye. In her contribution to the 1928 BAE Annual Report, Frances Densmore noted that alder, wild plum, and red osier dogwood inner barks could be mixed with the roots of bloodroot to give a “brilliant scarlet resembling aniline dyes.” Hemlock and red cedar roots and bark have also been named in recipes collected from the Mi’kmaq in the early 20th century.

Other reds
There are two species of mushroom native to North America, P.cinnabarinus and C.sanguineus, that each contain a red colorant. Though I’ve not seen any specific mention of the use of these mushrooms for red quill dyes, I’m including them in the list as a possible source of a natural red. And, of course, there are red dyes such as madder and lac that may have been introduced to Native communities by European settlers. Cochineal from Central America may have already been an established commodity, or could have also been introduced through European trade.

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