Madder
Madder is a red dye made from the roots of Rubia plants, used for millennia to dye textiles in reds, pinks and browns with a mordant.
The roots of madder, especially Rubia tinctorum, contain alizarin and other red colourants. With different mordants madder gives reds, pinks, purples and browns. It produced Turkey red, a famously fast, brilliant red on cotton.
Is madder still used?
Synthetic alizarin, made from 1869, replaced it commercially, but natural dyers still use madder.
Sources
- Madder (AAT 300013062). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Madder (Q52063543). Wikidata
See also
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