Library Finds - Color Charts: A History
Good Information Never Grows Old
title: Color Charts A History
author: Anne Varichon
date published: 2024 (English)
publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691255170
Who is this book for?
Anyone who loves color. This book is a treasure trove of vintage color samples and charts from all types of textiles, surface treatments, and even cosmetics.
Why we love it -
This book feels like sifting through your grandmother’s button box with her narrating the story of each button.
Even if you don’t read a word of the beautifully translated (from the original French) text you could spend hours pouring over the lush color plates featuring paint sample cards, tassels, ribbons and even feathers. Printed on satisfyingly heavy paper, the author guides us through the history of color samples beginning with the 15th century. Among my favorites are a tri fold paint chart from Ripolin c. 1902 and a 1930 felt chart where the swatches are cut in the shape of a gentleman’s hat. We tend to see the past through a black and white or sepia tinted mindset. These charts show us just how colorful our ancestor’s lives really were.