This week, a book on using lichen as a dye source has been donated to the library.

Dyeing with lichen is an ancient art. The Tarim Mummies of China were preserved in their clothing of wool, dyed with plants and lichens, for two thousand years. Scottish wool was similarly coloured using age-old techniques well into the 20th Century, as this video shows. Ancient Greeks produced a range of colours, from rose to blue, using a lichen called phycos (Roccella tinctoria), the same one that made the weavers France and Italy wealthy. In fact, the surname of a family from Florence, Rucellai, comes from the Latin name of the organism. The home of the family, Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, was built on the profits made from “poor man’s purple”, the hue derived from the lichen.

Lichen Dyes: The New Source Book was written by Karen Dyadic Casselman and has recipes, collecting hints and tips, and ways to be ethically conscious whilst finding and making use of the material. The book is now in the library collection and can be read when the studio is open – 11 to 3 weekdays – and by appointment.

_{Header image: Lichen models and diagrams in the Goulandris Museum, Athens.}