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Heritage
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Dyes in History and Archaeology 44
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Dyes in History and Archaeology 44

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408). This special issue belongs to the section "Museum and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 2609

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jo Kirby
*
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Gallery, London, UK
Interests: pigments; paints; dyes; art history; artists materials; paint technology
* retired
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Joanne Dyer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Scientific Research, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, UK
Interests: colours and colourants; pigments; dyes; textiles; sculpture; ancient painting techniques and craft practices; noninvasive techniques; multispectral imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Jennifer Poulin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Canadian Conservation Institute, 1030 Innes Rd., Ottawa, ON K1B 4S7, Canada
Interests: dyes; textiles; amber; paint; archaeological residues; pyrolysis; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ruth Ann Armitage

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
Interests: archaeological chemistry; mass spectrometry
Dr. Dominique Cardon

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CIHAM/UMR 5648 CNRS, 14 av. Berthelot, CEDEX 07, 69363 Lyon, France
Interests: textile techniques; natural organic dyes; historical sources on dyeing; colorimetry; colour names; experimental archaeology
Dr. Rachel Lackner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Interests: radiocarbon dating; dyes; textiles; rock art; DART-MS; HPLC
Dr. Gregory Dale Smith

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
Interests: dyes; pigments; binding media; plastics; microfade testing; Raman spectroscopy; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; pollution offgassing; conservation science education
Dr. Diego Tamburini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Scientific Research, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, UK
Interests: organic materials; chromatography; mass spectrometry; dyes; textiles; archaeological wood; Asian lacquers; Oriental art
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue features contributions from the conference DHA44. Dyes in History and Archaeology is an annual international conference that focuses on the academic discussion of dyes and organic pigments used in the past. Every year since 1982, this meeting has drawn together conservators, curators, (technical) art historians, craftspeople, artists, scientists and academics from museums, universities, research centres and other public or private institutions. The aim of the conference is to bring these specialists together to delve deeply into the history, production, application and properties of organic colourants, as well as their analytical characterisation and identification. The focus is often on textile objects, but also on other substrates as well as painted surfaces.

The 44th annual meeting was hosted in Ottawa, Canada, by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Canadian Museum of History (CMH).

For more information about future meetings of the Dyes in History and Archaeology group, see https://www.dyesinhistoryandarchaeology.com.

Dr. Jo Kirby
Dr. Joanne Dyer
Jennifer Poulin
Dr. Ruth Ann Armitage
Dr. Dominique Cardon
Dr. Rachel Lackner
Dr. Gregory Dale Smith
Dr. Diego Tamburini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dyes
  • colourants
  • organic pigments
  • mordants
  • archives
  • crafts
  • industry

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 83980 KB  
Article
Dyeing with a Coffee Cup? Challenging Recipes from a 19th-Century Dyer’s Handbook
by Eva Eis
Heritage 2026, 9(5), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9050169 - 30 Apr 2026
Viewed by 416
Abstract
A small dyer’s handbook in Dr. Georg Kremer’s archive presents unexpected challenges. The handwritten recipes can be dated back to the early 19th century. The author must have been an experienced dyer, who wrote down detailed instructions for dyeing or printing on cotton, [...] Read more.
A small dyer’s handbook in Dr. Georg Kremer’s archive presents unexpected challenges. The handwritten recipes can be dated back to the early 19th century. The author must have been an experienced dyer, who wrote down detailed instructions for dyeing or printing on cotton, wool and silk. More than 80 dyed textile samples were sewn or glued into the book. A colourful palette is achieved with natural dyes such as indigo, cochineal, madder, alkanna, annatto, turmeric and quercitron. Furthermore, inorganic pigments like Prussian blue and chrome yellow were used. Unfortunately, the text is characterized by regional accent and inconsistent spelling. Language analysis was able to assign the origin of the author to the Vogtland, a region in Germany that covers parts of Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony. The spelling or misspelling of the words may leave readers with a smile, but also make it difficult to figure out ingredients, chemicals or dyes. The measurement units given in the recipes are problematic. Additionally, vessels of vague volumes such as hand buckets or coffee cups are used. In this study, the content of the notebook is evaluated, and initial reproductions are carried out to find out how useful these recipes are for further research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dyes in History and Archaeology 44)
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30 pages, 12042 KB  
Article
Threads of War: Scientific Analysis of the Dyes, Fibres and Mordants Used in the Production of Afghan War Rugs
by Diego Tamburini, Joanne Dyer and Andrew Meek
Heritage 2026, 9(2), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9020081 - 19 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1447
Abstract
So-called ‘war rugs’ started being produced in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. These textiles have sparked debate as symbols of resilience and political commentary but also as controversial commodification of human suffering. However, their manufacture and materiality have not been studied [...] Read more.
So-called ‘war rugs’ started being produced in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. These textiles have sparked debate as symbols of resilience and political commentary but also as controversial commodification of human suffering. However, their manufacture and materiality have not been studied so far. In the framework of the British Museum exhibition “War rugs: Afghanistan’s knotted history”, a scientific investigation was conducted on nine rugs from the collection. Approximately 65 samples were analysed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS) to study the fibres, mordants and dyes used in the production of the rugs. Scanning X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) and multiband imaging (MBI) were also used directly on the rugs to map the distribution of specific mordants and dyes, respectively. The results revealed the intentional use of white or dark wool as the substrate for dyeing, to obtain specific colour shades. A wide range of synthetic dyes was detected, including Acid Orange 7, Acid Red 88, Basic Green 4, Acid Blue 92, Acid Black 1 and Direct Black 38 in the earlier rugs, whereas Direct Yellow 1, Direct Brown 1, Direct Yellow 12, Acid Green 25, Acid Blue 113 and Direct Blue 15 were identified in the later rugs. Some synthetic dyes remained unidentified. Additionally, natural dyes were used in three rugs. An emodin-based colourant, possibly obtained from dock or sorrel (Rumex spp.), was detected in two light brown areas. A berberine-based colourant consistent with barberry (Berberis spp.) was detected in a yellow area. These results represent the first scientific study of these objects and enable preliminary insights into the details of this complex craft that has evolved from centuries of carpet making in this area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dyes in History and Archaeology 44)
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