Colour

    "The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."

    John Ruskin

                                       

    "We are more than aware that the psychology of colour names is powerful. Many people might doubt the wisdom of calling a colour 'Dead Salmon', for example, but this name is actually derived from a painting bill found for the decorating of the library at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, in 1805. Salmon is the colour and Dead actually refers to the matt paint finish rather than a deceased fish. [...]

    However, all the names are rooted in much more than quirkiness or attention-seeking. We use the connotative power of language to describe colours. [...]

    There was a deep desire to make a white that was almost gossamer in appearance - a white with very little additional colour and almost translucent - like a spider's web. This was the birth of the colour 'Wevet', named after the Dorset dialect for exactly that: a spider's web. [...]

    We all know the hue of a mix of mist and drizzle, which creates the colour 'Mizzle'. 'Dimpse' is also quaint local dialect for the colour of the sky, but this time at twilight. These colours are joined by another weather-related name, 'Cromarty', a sea area referred to in the BBC radio broadcast of the Shipping Forecast, which warns sailors about impending gales and is very much part of the fabric of British life. 'Cromarty', a little lighter than 'Mizzle', conjures up the colours of swirling mists and turbulent seas."

    From Farrow & Ball - How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper.

Comments

[Spade & Dagger]

We need to forward a copy of this to Eddie Grundy in the Archers (BBC Radio 4) - last week to repair a smartly decorated, historic house he approximated this type of paint using cheap emulsion with added flour!

[Cornflower]

Wonderful!

[Toffeeapple]

I had no idea about the colour names but I like the fact that they have been taken from dialect words.

I love to go to Shipping Forecast areas, the latest one being Macrihanish on the west of Scotland a few weeks ago. I can't say that I recall any particular colour though.

[Margaret Powling]

On the back of each F&B colour chart it briefly mentions the origin of each colour name, such names as Fowler Pink, Elephant's Breach, Mouse's Back, etc. We have just decorated our bedroom in a paint called Bone ... to me it looks sage green but to others it looks slightly grey. Furniture has been painted House White (which just happens to be a light cream!) and the woodwork (windowsill, skirting, etc) is in Clunch (after a type of chalk.)
I think this is the 4th such F&B book on décor/colour. I have the previous three, this is now on my List ...
Margaret P