Reviving Dead Leaf: Understanding Historical Color Terminology Through Reconstruction

The terms fillenoert, villemort, feulje mort, and fillemot are obsolete historical color names derived from the French feuille morte (dead leaf), referred to a broad spectrum of brownish, yellowish, greenish, and reddish hues in early modern textile dyeing. This study investigates the visual identity and chromatic range of dead leaf by reconstructing dye recipes from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European dyeing manuals. Using historically accurate materials and techniques, wool samples were dyed and analyzed through CIELAB color measurements to quantify their hue values. The results reveal that dead leaf does not correspond to a single, fixed color but represents a flexible and metaphorical category, reflecting both the natural variation in dead foliage and the diversity of historical dyeing practices. In early modern Europe, colors were often descriptive, frequently referencing the natural world or objects. These descriptors offered a nuanced vocabulary that extended far beyond today’s basic chromatic terms. Reworking these recipes reveals the complex interplay between chromatic language, material practices, and color perception. Historical color names served not merely as labels but encoded information about dye sources, cultural associations, and socio-economic contexts. Understanding and reviving this terminology deepens our appreciation of early dyeing traditions and bridges past and present conceptions of color.