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"Turkey Red in Blackley: A Chapter in the History of Dyeing", excerpt from Pro Memoria-Turkey Red Dyeing and Blackley, a
manuscript by W.H. Cliffe. Wilfred Herbert Cliffe was a research chemist for British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd. 1922-1927 and for
the Dyestuffs Division of Imperial Chemical Industries during 1933-1965.
Turkey Red in Blackley: A Chapter in the History of Dyeing
By (The late) W.H. Cliffe(1)
Blackley(2), though only four miles from the centre of Manchester, was, until towards the end of the last century, a curiously
remote and isolated village community. Today it is a northern suburb—until quite recently retaining many aspects of village life—
and the headquarters of ICI Organics (formerly Dyestuffs) Division. The place has a long involvement with the dyeing trade. The visitor
to Hexagon House, arriving from the city, will probably approach his goal along Delaunays Road. The last few yards of his journey
will be along Hulton Brow(3), still known locally as Barrel Brow; the name has nothing to do with barrels, but is a corruption of
Borelle. The almost forgotten families of Borelle and Delaunay are the principal concern of this paper.
Among the natural dyestuffs available to the dyers of the eighteenth century, madder root held pride of place both for fastness
and versatility. According to the mordant used, a whole range of shades could be produced on cotton, from pink through purple and
brown to nearly black. But there was one shade, the most valuable of them all, a brilliant and solid fiery red, which could only be dyed
in India and the Near East. British and French dyers could not imitate it, and it was so much sought after that cotton yarn would
even be sent to the Levant for dyeing, and re-imported. The colour was known as Turkey Red, or sometimes Adrianople Red.
The process was not exactly secret; but its practitioners lived far away, and its complexity made it difficult to copy. There were
between 10 and 20 separate treatments of the cotton, some of them probably unnecessary, since the actual number varied from dyer to
dyer. They included steeping in vats containing, among other exotic ingredients, the digestive juices of animals; but the key to the
process was the employment of an oily or fatty substance, usually buffalo milk in India or olive oil in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Naturally there were many attempts to imitate Turkey Red in the West, but even when the "secret" was known it was hard to get
reproducible results, and harder still to realize the expected profits. In Britain the pioneer seems to have been John Wilson of Ainsworth
near Bury, in the 1750s. According to his own account, written much later(4),
"This valuable Colour cost me several Hundred Pounds. In the year 1753,I sent a young Man to Turkey, on Purpose to
learn to dye it. He had lived with a Mr. Richard Dobs, a Merchant in Smyrna, some Time before, and had learned
the Language of those Greeks who dye it; and by Mr. Dobs's Interest, got Admittance into their Dye-Houses, and was
instructed; and on his Return, brought the true Method, and with him a many Bales of the best Madder Root... He
executed the Business I sent him about and I rewarded him for his Trouble; but when I had got it, to my great Dis-
appointment it would not suit for my Purpose, that is for Cotton Velvets; nor any other sort of Piece Work I then
made. The Tediousness of so many Operations, and the Exactness required every Time rendered it of no more Value
to me than the Madder red . . . which is so easily dyed, whereas the Turkey red requires 12 or 13 Operations in
repeated Steepings, Dryings, Washings and Dyeing . . ."
As this quotation indicates, Wilson was concerned with piece dyeing, which happens to be more difficult than yarn dyeing in the
Turkey Red process. The Society of Arts gave him £50, but reported that his dyeing lacked fastness compared with the imported article
(5). At all events, by his own admission, Wilson soon ceased to work the process, and little more was heard of it in Britain for about
thirty years(6). The next known attempt to import the know-how directly from the Near East was by the fustian-maker Charles
Taylor of Manchester, as evidenced by the following advertisement(7).
"THEOKARY, Greek Turkey Red Dyer, WHO has worked with Messrs. Taylor and Maxwell, for three years, has now
finished his Engagement and is going abroad. If any Person has any Demands upon him, they are hereby desired to call
upon him at The Gibraltar Tavern, where he will give proper Satisfaction. His stay at Manchester will be near Three Weeks".
However, such evidence as there is—it is mostly negative, such as the notable absence of advertisements by Taylor and Maxwell for
Turkey Red dyed yarn—points to Theokary being no more successful than John Wilson's unnamed adviser. At about the same time
as he began his engagement, a profitable commercial operation was being established in Blackley by immigrants from Rouen.
The Borelles
A littler earlier than Wilson's attempt, Turkey Red was being introduced into France. In 1746, dyeing began at Aubenas in the
south-west, with the help of "Greeks" from Marseilles, and a year later at Darnetal, near Rouen, These, and a few other ventures in
the 1750s, seem to have fared better than Wilson, though none was a complete success. Profitable operation only started when, in 1776,
two Paris merchants, Pouce and Archalat, with government assistance, hired a number of Greek dyers directly from Adrianople.
These people set up a little colony around the existing dyehouse at Darnetal, and from this centre Turkey Red became firmly established
in the Rouen area(8). The importance of personal knowledge of the process is emphasized by the fact that it was published in French
by Goudard in 1765 and by Le Pileur d' Apligny in 1776, but its practice still remained restricted.
In the middle 1780s, perhaps because of some temporary recession in trade, a number of French dyers, mostly from Normandy,
emigrated to England. According to a fact-finding commission from the Normandy Chamber of Commerce, visiting Manchester in 1786,
about twenty of these dyers had settled there(9). The authors of the report, MM Rabasse and Hurard, remarked "Manchester has not yet
been successful, as we have, in obtaining the fine Indian scarlet dye on cotton (i.e. Turkey Red, in French rouge des Indes), but ... we
may rest assured that before a year is out this fine rich colour will be known throughout England". Their prediction was almost correct.
The best known of these immigrants was one Pierre Jacques Papillon, a Rouen dyer, who on 21st February 1785 wrote to Mr.
Philips, a prominent member of the Manchester textile community. He followed the letter with a personal visit, using in both cases (for
reasons best known to himself) the name Cigale (grasshopper) instead of Papillon (butterfly). But although he satisfied Philips of
his ability to carry out Turkey Red dyeing, he received no encouragement, since (though he did not know it) the Manchester Committee
of Commerce was already in negotiation with Borelle. He went off to the firm of Macintosh and Dale in Glasgow to become the first
successful Turkey Red dyer in Britain—and so out of our story(10).
We have no account of Louis Borelle based on personal knowedge, but from the records he seems to have been a model of
patience and determination in face of delays and frustrations which would have made a lesser man give up(11). He came to England
towards the end of 1781 (probably, though not certainly, from Rouen) "to make proposals for disclosing to the Public his Method
of dyeing the Turkey Red". His first step was to approach William Morton Pitt, M.P., with whom he seems to have been acquainted.
But Mr. Pitt was abroad, and Borelle had to wait for his return. In the spring of 1782, a Mr. Crusaz (probably his agent) wrote to Mr.
Pitt, enclosing samples of cotton dyed with Turkey Red. Mr. Pitt did nothing; Crusaz wrote to him again in the autumn of 1783. This
time Mr. Pitt was ill, and about to go abroad for his health—but before he went, he entrusted the matter to Sir Thomas Egerton,
one of the Members for Lancashire. Nothing was done in Parliament because of its approaching dissolution, but Sir Thomas did at least
bring Borelle's proposals to the notice of the Manchester Committee of Commerce. One of the committee members, James Touchet,
was very interested, and at his urging, the secretary was instructed on 29th January 1784 to write to Borelle's agent. This the secretary
unaccountably neglected to do, but Crusaz himself got in touch with the committee in the following June. The chairman, Mr. Philips,
then asked "for every information which was necessary to justify their Recommendation of the Dye to the Lords of the Treasury".
It was not until the winter of 1784-5 that Louis Borelle came to Manchester, accompanied by his partner, Abraham Henri Borelle
(probably, though not certainly, his brother).
Their first dyeings were shown to the committee on 11th February 1785 and the partners "afterwards attended the said Committee,
and went through every Operation of preparing and dyeing cotton of the above colour, both in the hank and the piece(12), and explained
to the said Committee the nature of the whole process, showing the Committee every ingredient that was used". With commendable
caution, some members of the committee then repeated the process without the assistance of the Borelles, using materials supplied by
Mr. Philips. There were then prolonged exposure tests of the dyed cotton; and when the committee met on 25th May "being fully
satisfied of the Permanency of the Dye, and the great use the discovery thereof would be to the Public, they did, on the 26th of
May, sign a Memorial stating the same to the Lords of the Treasury...".
More months went by; how the Borelles were supporting themselves during this time we do not know. It was not until 3rd March
1786 that the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented a petition to the House on their behalf, and referred it to a committee. Finally,
on 7th June 1786, the committee recommended "that a Sum not exceeding Two Thousand Five Hundred Pounds be granted to his
Majesty, to be paid to Louis Borelle and Abraham Henry Borelle, upon a proper Discovery to be made by them, for the Use of the
Public, of their Method of dyeing the Colour called Turkey Red upon Cotton in Hanks and in the Piece"(13).
It is not clear exactly how the Borelles made their "proper Discovery" to die public—possibly through the Worshipful Com-
pany of Dyers, as happened in at least one other case. There are, however, two pieces of evidence that the process was published
(apart from the unlikelihood of the Government paying out if this were not the case). One is an advertisement by "a considerable
House" in Manchester for a person capable of dyeing "Turkey Red from Mr. Burrell's [sic] Specification”(14). The other is an
addendum or correction to the process, presumably published by the Borelles(15), ”A Caution to all concerned in dyeing Turkey Red.
It is necessary that the Barillar Liquor be kept from the Frost, for which purpose it is recommended that the Place where the Solution
is made be adjoining to the Stove, by which means sufficient Warmth is obtained without any additional Fire. This Circumstance was
overlooked in the Receipt given in at the Treasury".
By accepting Parliament's premium of £2,500, the Borelle partners were of course not precluded from attempting to establish
themselves as dyers on their own account. They could use the premium as their capital, and the only competition they had to meet at
first would be from Macintosh and Dale in Glasgow. Their advertisement appeared on 28th October 1788(16):
It is implied that only one of the Borelle partners was established in Blackley, and this seems to be borne out by directory entries for
1794, 1797, 1800 and 1802, which list Abraham Henry Borl [sic] "turkey-red dyer, Crumpsall" with an address to meet customers at
the Dog and Partridge, Market-street-lane. (The variation between Blackley and Crumpsall is probably not significant; the dyehouse
was perhaps on or near the boundary between the two parishes). However, Louis appears again in a petition to Parliament in 1796,
together with Abraham Henry and an otherwise unknown Henry Borelle, praying leave to bring in a Bill for their naturalization. This went
through without event, and on 23rd December of that year three members of the Borelle family became British subjects(17).
In 1804, Abraham Henry Borelle retired, and his premises were advertised for sale in the Manchester papers(18):
"Extensive Dye-Works at Blakely TO BE SOLD BY PRIVATE TREATY with immediate possession. ALL those
extensive and truly eligible LEASEHOLD PREMISES situated at Blakely, near Manchester, for many years occupied
as the DYE-WORKS (in the Turkey Red line) of Mr. Borel, who is retiring from business; together with all FIXTURES
and UTENSILS requisite for carrying on the DYEING TRADE on an extensive scale; the whole of which being in
excellent condition, and the buildings in a substantial state of repair, the works may be immediately recommenced at a
very moderate expence... The above premises are altogether in a more complete situation for carrying on an extensive
trade than that of any other in Lancashire, being crescented by a powerful stream of water, which, as there are no other
works of a similar kind above these, is never liable to the smallest interruption. The premises are held by lease, of which
a term of ten years is yet unexpired. MR. BOREL, the present occupier, will cheerfully render every necessary information
and instruction to a purchaser. The whole may be viewed at pleasure, and particulars had on the premises."
The name of Borelle (with its many variants) is not found in any later directories. Tradition has it(19) that the works came into the
hands of the Delaunay family, to whom we must now turn.
The Delaunays
At least two oral accounts of the origin of the Delaunays are current in Blackley to this day, and have occasionally appeared in print. One
is that they were Huguenots, fleeing from religious persecution; another makes them the exiled family of die Marquis de Launay,
Governor of the Bastille, who was killed by the Paris mob on the famous Quatorze Juillet of 1789. There is no word of truth in either story.
The Delaunays were Catholics; there is no evidence of any connection with the nobility, and diey arrived in Blackley at least as early as
June 1788, or more than a year before the fall of the Bastille. The family came, in fact, from Rouen, and their head. Angel Raphael Louis
Delaunay, then aged 35, was probably a master dyer. He brought with him his wife, Dorothee Victoire Genevieve, aged 31, and their two
infant children, Louis Barthelemy (Bardtholomew) and Eulalie Pelagie. He was thus later on the scene than Borelle, but he did not have
the vexing delays of trying to sell his process; evidently he had capital, and was able to establish himself straight away. His
advertisement appeared some four months earlier than Borelle's so it is probable that, by this short margin, he was the first successful
Turkey Red dyer in England (as distinct from Scotland).
Delaunay was at first in partnership with Charles Payant, a Frenchman (perhaps also from Rouen) who had been in Manchester since
1777, earning his living by teaching French and Italian. Their advertisement ran as follows(20):
The connection with Payant did not last long. By the end of the next year he was back to teaching(21):
"FRENCH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES. CHARLES PAYANT, Ridge Field, Manchester, RETURNS his most
sincere Acknowledgments to his Friends in particular, and the Public at large, for the many Favours conferred on him
during the course of twelve Years—Respectfully informs them, he has entirely relinquished the Dyeing Business,
means to devote his Time to teaching the Languages, and giving Commercial Instructions, he having been formerly
a Merchant—Wishes to observe, the few Hours he employed in the Dyeing Concern, never engaged him a Moment from
due attendance to his Schools, though it has been artfully advanced to the contrary—Those who honour him with their
Patronage, may depend, he always will make his peculiar Study to deserve it, by constant Assiduity to the Improve-
ment of the Pupils, who shall be trusted to his Care . . ."
What differences there had been between Delaunay and Payant, we can only guess; but Delaunay found it prudent to insert a counter-
advertisement(22):
"TURKEY RED and other Colours. Mr. DELAUNAY, of Crumpsall,
takes this Opportunity of acquainting the Public
(notwithstanding idle Reports which have been advanced,
since his Separation of Partnership with Mr. Payant, to the
contrary) that he has continued, and does continue, to dye
TURKEY RED, and other fine COLOURS, as usual,
Informs Manufacturers, that his Warehouse is at Mr. David
Law's, Cateaton-Street, Manchester, where a Person attends
to take in Cotton, and give every Information required.
Flatters himself he shall be able to give Satisfaction to those
I who please to honour him with their Commands.
A. DELAUNAY attends himself as above regularly every
Thursday and Saturday, from twelve to four o'clock."
Delaunay's advertisements both describe his dyehouse as being in Crumpsall, though the directory for 1788 gives his address as
Blackley. Although, as mentioned above, there was a certain lack of precision about locations near the parish boundary, it seems likely
that at first the dyehouse was on the Crumpsall side of the little River Irk, and the dwelling house on the other. There was evidently
a move in 1794(23):
"A. DELAUNAY—TURKEY RED DYER. Respectfully gives Notice to his Friends and the Public, that next May
his HOUSE and DYE-HOUSE will be in BLAKELEY".
From the bankruptcy proceedings (see later) it is known that the family lived in Thames House, Blackley, but neither this nor
the dyehouse is marked on any known map. It is also known that a considerable amount of farmland was at one time owned by the
Delaunays, of which the only name still identifiable is Pike Fold. At this period many small manufacturers, both French and British,
still kept "one foot on the land"; there was reluctance to break entirely with an older way of life, and some degree of insurance
against failure in business.
However, after 20 years of apparently successful operation, Angel Delaunay was declared bankrupt in 1808. No particular
reason for this is known, though the economic climate towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars made things difficult for many small
businessmen. In partial satisfaction of his debts, he had to submit to a sale of his possessions, the notice of sale appearing on 26th
April 1808. Since there was then no limited liability, everything had to go, down to household furniture such as "sopha and covers".
The farming stock "of the said Bankrupt" was listed as "five cows in calf, one calf, three horses, two caravans, two carts six inch wheels,
iron arms, one plough, two pairs of harrows, one market cart, geers for four horses, about four tons of excellent hay, quantity of straw and
dung, a few loads of good potatoes, and sundry other articles". Of more interest is the list of "Dying Utensils ... a valuable assortment of
copper pans of various sizes, twelve lead vats, six large drying stoves, horse wheel and geering, madder mill, chopping
machine for madder roots, a large number of chemical and dyeing tubs, sundry wringing posts, a quantity of lead pipes and cocks,
sundry piece barrows and drying racks ..."
Evidently this latter material was not sold, for it was advertised again in different terms on 7th June: "copper pans of various sizes,
lead and iron vats, lead and wood cisterns, a large quantity of chymical and working tubs, two large stove pots and pipes, sundry
drying rails and yam poles, one madder mill, horse wheel and geering, one manganesse machine, wringing posts and hooks, two
wood sheds, sundry drains, sieves, stillages, scopes, buckets, etc."
Somehow, Angel Delaunay must have managed to pay off most of his debts. The Commissioners of Bankruptcy met twice to make
dividends of the Delaunay estate(24); and his Will, dated 30th December 1810(25), gives the impression of a man with substantial
possessions and a thriving business. The Will was evidently made during his last illness, for he died on 14th January 1811, aged 58.
Besides the two children already mentioned, born in Rouen, Angel Delaunay had four more, born later; two sons, George William
(1795-1833) and Michael (1803-1863), and two daughters Dorothy Frances and Adelaide (dates unknown). One-third of all the property
was bequeathed to the eldest son, Louis Barthelemy, together with a direction "that the trade of dyer ... be continued and carried on
by my son Louis Barthelemy for his own benefit according to the advantages which the share bequeathed already to him is capable of
affording".
Some time before their father's death, two of the Delaunay daughters opened a school, no doubt in order to ease the straightened family
circumstances. The notices of its opening have not been found, but the following advertisement appeared at the end of 1810(36):
"Blackley Board School. THREE MILES DISTANT FROM MANCHESTER. MISS DELAUNAY. A NATIVE
of France(27), presents her acknowledgments to her Friends and the Public, for the encouragement with which she has
been favoured since her commencement; she begs leave to inform them, that her School will re-open on Monday January
21, 1811.
Board of tuition, with the English and French Languages,
Needlework, etc., 28 Guineas per annum.
Without the French Language, 25 Guineas.
Entrance 1 Guinea.
Parlour Boarders 33 Guineas per annum.
Washing 15s per quarter.
Tea breakfast ditto 10s. 6d.
Dancing, Music, Drawing, etc., by approved Masters.
N.B. As the French Tongue is spoken in the family, Young Ladies will have many advantages for acquaintance and
fluency in the use of that Language, particularly those who enter as Parlour Boarders."
Notices of the school continued to appear in the Manchester press until 1816. By then it seems probably that the dyeing business
in the hands of Louis Bartholomew was sufficiently prosperous to release his sisters from the necessity of running a school.
Louis Bartholomew was, by all accounts, both a capable dyer and a successful man of business. From 1811 until about the time
of his death in 1865 the Delaunay works ran without any known reverses, and he was regarded as an exceptionally good employer.
"No old servant at the works" it was stated(28) "was ever discharged, even when incapacitated, and the place was over-run with
pensioners receiving full wages as long as they lived". His brother George, of whom almost nothing is known, became a partner on
coming of age in 1816, though he died while still in his thirties. Louis lived in some style, though without ostentation, in Hulton House(29)
—about where Hexagon House stands now—with his unmarried sister Dorothy acting as housekeeper. His brother Michael and sister
Ulalea (Eulalie), neither of whom married, lived in a smaller establishment, Ivy House, by the banks of the Irk. It was Louis who enlarged
the works to include, besides dyehouses, a printworks, an indigo mill, a gas works (providing their own lighting), counting house and
offices. He also laid out the coach road to Hulton House that became the present-day Delaunays Road, and built in 1830 the well-known
"square chimney", a local landmark demolished in 1960. As an overseer of the poor, some of the surviving Blackley rate books bear his
bold flowing signature. The family never broke their links with France. A letter of 1843, from Louis Delaunay to his son Charles, shows
that some of his children were sent to Rouen for their education, and that he was on terms of friendship with several Rouen dyers.
Michael Delaunay probably died in France, though he is interred in the family vault in St. Peter's churchyard in Blackley.
After Louis Delaunay's death in 1865, Hulton House and the works were purchased by a representative of another wave of con-
tinental immigrants—Ivan Levinstein and his family from Berlin, who brought with them the new technology of synthetic dyestuffs,
and opened a new chapter in the history of dyestuffs in Blackley.
Notes and References
(1) Wilfrid Cliffe, a chemist in ICI Dyestuffs Division at Blackley, died suddenly in 1964, leaving a quantity of notes on the
history of dyes and dyeing in Manchester, his spare-time interest for many years. Of this material, only that relating to
Turkey Red was sufficiently complete to be published; by kind permission of Mrs. Cliffe, the notes were reduced to
narrative form by Mr. D. Mason, formerly librarian of Dyestuffs Division. The present paper is an abridged and edited
version of this narrative, by Dr. W. V. Farrar, Department of History of Science and Technology, UMIST.
(2) Note for non-Mancunians: pronounced, as it used often to be spelt, Blakeley.
(3) This was correct when Mr. Cliffe compiled his notes: Hulton Brow has now disappeared under new buildings.
(4) WILSON, J., On light and colours, and what colouring matters are that dye cotton and linen (Manchester, 1786). An account
of Wilson's process is given by T. HENRY, Man. Mems., 3, 343 (1790).
(5) DOSSIE, R. (1768), quoted by C. BOLTON, Dyer and Textile Printer, 77, 602 (1937).
(6) For the claims sometimes made on behalf of Simon Spurritt of Isleworth and Dr. Berkenhout (a German or Dutchman), see
Bolton, ref. 5.
(7) Manchester Mercury, 15th March 1791. There are several references to "our Greek" in letters written by James Watt
junior, who was at that time working for Taylor and Maxwell (Boulton-Watt correspondence, Birmingham Public Library).
(8) On the introduction of Turkey Red dyeing into France, see H. WESCHER, Ciba Review, no. 135, 21 (1959).
(9) SEE, H., "The Normandy Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Treaty of 1786", Econ. Hist. Rev., 2, 308 (1929-
30).
(10) His personal success did not last long. Macintosh wrote to his father on 18th January 1787: "Papillon has now left us entirely,
we could not manage this unhappy temper ... we paid him his salary up to October, so as to be quite clear of him". Some
other ventures also apparently failed, and his career ends in obscurity. See C. A. PEEL, J. Soc. Dyers Col., 68, 496 (1952).
(11) This account is derived from the Journals of the House of Commons, vols. 41 and 42.
(12) This definite statement about dyeing piece goods is quite important, since it is often stated that the first successful
Turkey Red piece-dyer was Daniel Koechlin of Mulhouse in 1810 (probably following E. BAINES, History of the cotton
manufacture (London, 1835), p. 276).
(13) Ref. 11 records that the money had been paid by 19th April 1787.
(14) Manchester Mercury, 24th April 1787.
(15) Manchester Mercury, 25th December 1787.
(16) Manchester Mercury, 28th October 1788; repeated on 4th and 11th November.
(17) Journal of the House of Commons, vol. 53.
(18) Manchester Mercury, 31st July 1804.
(19) FRED L. LAVARE, Mane/tester City News, 4th August 1900.
(20) Manchester Mercury, 24th June 1788, and following two issues.
(21) Manchester Mercury, 15th December 1789. According to directory entries, Payant continued as a teacher until 1794.
But he was clearly a man of many parts, for he appears in later entries as manufacturer, twist merchant, commission
agent, foreign merchant, calico printer, and wine merchant. He married a sister of Peter Clare, the Quaker, John Dalton's
friend.
(22) Manchester Mercury, 20th April 1790.
(23) Manchester Mercury, 25th March 1794.
(24) Manchester Mercury, 27th December 1808 and 14th August 1810.
(25) In Lancashire County Record Office, Preston.
(26) Manchester Mercury, 18th December 1810. Later advertisements refer to "the Misses Delaunay", and the Will of Angel
Delaunay makes it clear that the two daughters were Dorothy and Adelaide. The school was conducted in the family home.
Hulton House.
(27) If this statement is true, Dorothy (or Adelaide) must have been bom during a return visit of their mother to Rouen; this
is not unlikely, since the Delaunays continued to have close links with France, and it seems from the Will that Angel's
wife held property there.
(28) "R.H.G.", Manchester City News, llth August 1900.
(29) Hulton House must have been acquired as the family home some time between the forced sale of Thames House in 1808
and the making of Angel's Will in 1810. It was demolished about 1920 to make way for administrative buildings.
manuscript by W.H. Cliffe. Wilfred Herbert Cliffe was a research chemist for British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd. 1922-1927 and for
the Dyestuffs Division of Imperial Chemical Industries during 1933-1965.
Turkey Red in Blackley: A Chapter in the History of Dyeing
By (The late) W.H. Cliffe(1)
Blackley(2), though only four miles from the centre of Manchester, was, until towards the end of the last century, a curiously
remote and isolated village community. Today it is a northern suburb—until quite recently retaining many aspects of village life—
and the headquarters of ICI Organics (formerly Dyestuffs) Division. The place has a long involvement with the dyeing trade. The visitor
to Hexagon House, arriving from the city, will probably approach his goal along Delaunays Road. The last few yards of his journey
will be along Hulton Brow(3), still known locally as Barrel Brow; the name has nothing to do with barrels, but is a corruption of
Borelle. The almost forgotten families of Borelle and Delaunay are the principal concern of this paper.
Among the natural dyestuffs available to the dyers of the eighteenth century, madder root held pride of place both for fastness
and versatility. According to the mordant used, a whole range of shades could be produced on cotton, from pink through purple and
brown to nearly black. But there was one shade, the most valuable of them all, a brilliant and solid fiery red, which could only be dyed
in India and the Near East. British and French dyers could not imitate it, and it was so much sought after that cotton yarn would
even be sent to the Levant for dyeing, and re-imported. The colour was known as Turkey Red, or sometimes Adrianople Red.
The process was not exactly secret; but its practitioners lived far away, and its complexity made it difficult to copy. There were
between 10 and 20 separate treatments of the cotton, some of them probably unnecessary, since the actual number varied from dyer to
dyer. They included steeping in vats containing, among other exotic ingredients, the digestive juices of animals; but the key to the
process was the employment of an oily or fatty substance, usually buffalo milk in India or olive oil in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Naturally there were many attempts to imitate Turkey Red in the West, but even when the "secret" was known it was hard to get
reproducible results, and harder still to realize the expected profits. In Britain the pioneer seems to have been John Wilson of Ainsworth
near Bury, in the 1750s. According to his own account, written much later(4),
"This valuable Colour cost me several Hundred Pounds. In the year 1753,I sent a young Man to Turkey, on Purpose to
learn to dye it. He had lived with a Mr. Richard Dobs, a Merchant in Smyrna, some Time before, and had learned
the Language of those Greeks who dye it; and by Mr. Dobs's Interest, got Admittance into their Dye-Houses, and was
instructed; and on his Return, brought the true Method, and with him a many Bales of the best Madder Root... He
executed the Business I sent him about and I rewarded him for his Trouble; but when I had got it, to my great Dis-
appointment it would not suit for my Purpose, that is for Cotton Velvets; nor any other sort of Piece Work I then
made. The Tediousness of so many Operations, and the Exactness required every Time rendered it of no more Value
to me than the Madder red . . . which is so easily dyed, whereas the Turkey red requires 12 or 13 Operations in
repeated Steepings, Dryings, Washings and Dyeing . . ."
As this quotation indicates, Wilson was concerned with piece dyeing, which happens to be more difficult than yarn dyeing in the
Turkey Red process. The Society of Arts gave him £50, but reported that his dyeing lacked fastness compared with the imported article
(5). At all events, by his own admission, Wilson soon ceased to work the process, and little more was heard of it in Britain for about
thirty years(6). The next known attempt to import the know-how directly from the Near East was by the fustian-maker Charles
Taylor of Manchester, as evidenced by the following advertisement(7).
"THEOKARY, Greek Turkey Red Dyer, WHO has worked with Messrs. Taylor and Maxwell, for three years, has now
finished his Engagement and is going abroad. If any Person has any Demands upon him, they are hereby desired to call
upon him at The Gibraltar Tavern, where he will give proper Satisfaction. His stay at Manchester will be near Three Weeks".
However, such evidence as there is—it is mostly negative, such as the notable absence of advertisements by Taylor and Maxwell for
Turkey Red dyed yarn—points to Theokary being no more successful than John Wilson's unnamed adviser. At about the same time
as he began his engagement, a profitable commercial operation was being established in Blackley by immigrants from Rouen.
The Borelles
A littler earlier than Wilson's attempt, Turkey Red was being introduced into France. In 1746, dyeing began at Aubenas in the
south-west, with the help of "Greeks" from Marseilles, and a year later at Darnetal, near Rouen, These, and a few other ventures in
the 1750s, seem to have fared better than Wilson, though none was a complete success. Profitable operation only started when, in 1776,
two Paris merchants, Pouce and Archalat, with government assistance, hired a number of Greek dyers directly from Adrianople.
These people set up a little colony around the existing dyehouse at Darnetal, and from this centre Turkey Red became firmly established
in the Rouen area(8). The importance of personal knowledge of the process is emphasized by the fact that it was published in French
by Goudard in 1765 and by Le Pileur d' Apligny in 1776, but its practice still remained restricted.
In the middle 1780s, perhaps because of some temporary recession in trade, a number of French dyers, mostly from Normandy,
emigrated to England. According to a fact-finding commission from the Normandy Chamber of Commerce, visiting Manchester in 1786,
about twenty of these dyers had settled there(9). The authors of the report, MM Rabasse and Hurard, remarked "Manchester has not yet
been successful, as we have, in obtaining the fine Indian scarlet dye on cotton (i.e. Turkey Red, in French rouge des Indes), but ... we
may rest assured that before a year is out this fine rich colour will be known throughout England". Their prediction was almost correct.
The best known of these immigrants was one Pierre Jacques Papillon, a Rouen dyer, who on 21st February 1785 wrote to Mr.
Philips, a prominent member of the Manchester textile community. He followed the letter with a personal visit, using in both cases (for
reasons best known to himself) the name Cigale (grasshopper) instead of Papillon (butterfly). But although he satisfied Philips of
his ability to carry out Turkey Red dyeing, he received no encouragement, since (though he did not know it) the Manchester Committee
of Commerce was already in negotiation with Borelle. He went off to the firm of Macintosh and Dale in Glasgow to become the first
successful Turkey Red dyer in Britain—and so out of our story(10).
We have no account of Louis Borelle based on personal knowedge, but from the records he seems to have been a model of
patience and determination in face of delays and frustrations which would have made a lesser man give up(11). He came to England
towards the end of 1781 (probably, though not certainly, from Rouen) "to make proposals for disclosing to the Public his Method
of dyeing the Turkey Red". His first step was to approach William Morton Pitt, M.P., with whom he seems to have been acquainted.
But Mr. Pitt was abroad, and Borelle had to wait for his return. In the spring of 1782, a Mr. Crusaz (probably his agent) wrote to Mr.
Pitt, enclosing samples of cotton dyed with Turkey Red. Mr. Pitt did nothing; Crusaz wrote to him again in the autumn of 1783. This
time Mr. Pitt was ill, and about to go abroad for his health—but before he went, he entrusted the matter to Sir Thomas Egerton,
one of the Members for Lancashire. Nothing was done in Parliament because of its approaching dissolution, but Sir Thomas did at least
bring Borelle's proposals to the notice of the Manchester Committee of Commerce. One of the committee members, James Touchet,
was very interested, and at his urging, the secretary was instructed on 29th January 1784 to write to Borelle's agent. This the secretary
unaccountably neglected to do, but Crusaz himself got in touch with the committee in the following June. The chairman, Mr. Philips,
then asked "for every information which was necessary to justify their Recommendation of the Dye to the Lords of the Treasury".
It was not until the winter of 1784-5 that Louis Borelle came to Manchester, accompanied by his partner, Abraham Henri Borelle
(probably, though not certainly, his brother).
Their first dyeings were shown to the committee on 11th February 1785 and the partners "afterwards attended the said Committee,
and went through every Operation of preparing and dyeing cotton of the above colour, both in the hank and the piece(12), and explained
to the said Committee the nature of the whole process, showing the Committee every ingredient that was used". With commendable
caution, some members of the committee then repeated the process without the assistance of the Borelles, using materials supplied by
Mr. Philips. There were then prolonged exposure tests of the dyed cotton; and when the committee met on 25th May "being fully
satisfied of the Permanency of the Dye, and the great use the discovery thereof would be to the Public, they did, on the 26th of
May, sign a Memorial stating the same to the Lords of the Treasury...".
More months went by; how the Borelles were supporting themselves during this time we do not know. It was not until 3rd March
1786 that the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented a petition to the House on their behalf, and referred it to a committee. Finally,
on 7th June 1786, the committee recommended "that a Sum not exceeding Two Thousand Five Hundred Pounds be granted to his
Majesty, to be paid to Louis Borelle and Abraham Henry Borelle, upon a proper Discovery to be made by them, for the Use of the
Public, of their Method of dyeing the Colour called Turkey Red upon Cotton in Hanks and in the Piece"(13).
It is not clear exactly how the Borelles made their "proper Discovery" to die public—possibly through the Worshipful Com-
pany of Dyers, as happened in at least one other case. There are, however, two pieces of evidence that the process was published
(apart from the unlikelihood of the Government paying out if this were not the case). One is an advertisement by "a considerable
House" in Manchester for a person capable of dyeing "Turkey Red from Mr. Burrell's [sic] Specification”(14). The other is an
addendum or correction to the process, presumably published by the Borelles(15), ”A Caution to all concerned in dyeing Turkey Red.
It is necessary that the Barillar Liquor be kept from the Frost, for which purpose it is recommended that the Place where the Solution
is made be adjoining to the Stove, by which means sufficient Warmth is obtained without any additional Fire. This Circumstance was
overlooked in the Receipt given in at the Treasury".
By accepting Parliament's premium of £2,500, the Borelle partners were of course not precluded from attempting to establish
themselves as dyers on their own account. They could use the premium as their capital, and the only competition they had to meet at
first would be from Macintosh and Dale in Glasgow. Their advertisement appeared on 28th October 1788(16):
It is implied that only one of the Borelle partners was established in Blackley, and this seems to be borne out by directory entries for
1794, 1797, 1800 and 1802, which list Abraham Henry Borl [sic] "turkey-red dyer, Crumpsall" with an address to meet customers at
the Dog and Partridge, Market-street-lane. (The variation between Blackley and Crumpsall is probably not significant; the dyehouse
was perhaps on or near the boundary between the two parishes). However, Louis appears again in a petition to Parliament in 1796,
together with Abraham Henry and an otherwise unknown Henry Borelle, praying leave to bring in a Bill for their naturalization. This went
through without event, and on 23rd December of that year three members of the Borelle family became British subjects(17).
In 1804, Abraham Henry Borelle retired, and his premises were advertised for sale in the Manchester papers(18):
"Extensive Dye-Works at Blakely TO BE SOLD BY PRIVATE TREATY with immediate possession. ALL those
extensive and truly eligible LEASEHOLD PREMISES situated at Blakely, near Manchester, for many years occupied
as the DYE-WORKS (in the Turkey Red line) of Mr. Borel, who is retiring from business; together with all FIXTURES
and UTENSILS requisite for carrying on the DYEING TRADE on an extensive scale; the whole of which being in
excellent condition, and the buildings in a substantial state of repair, the works may be immediately recommenced at a
very moderate expence... The above premises are altogether in a more complete situation for carrying on an extensive
trade than that of any other in Lancashire, being crescented by a powerful stream of water, which, as there are no other
works of a similar kind above these, is never liable to the smallest interruption. The premises are held by lease, of which
a term of ten years is yet unexpired. MR. BOREL, the present occupier, will cheerfully render every necessary information
and instruction to a purchaser. The whole may be viewed at pleasure, and particulars had on the premises."
The name of Borelle (with its many variants) is not found in any later directories. Tradition has it(19) that the works came into the
hands of the Delaunay family, to whom we must now turn.
The Delaunays
At least two oral accounts of the origin of the Delaunays are current in Blackley to this day, and have occasionally appeared in print. One
is that they were Huguenots, fleeing from religious persecution; another makes them the exiled family of die Marquis de Launay,
Governor of the Bastille, who was killed by the Paris mob on the famous Quatorze Juillet of 1789. There is no word of truth in either story.
The Delaunays were Catholics; there is no evidence of any connection with the nobility, and diey arrived in Blackley at least as early as
June 1788, or more than a year before the fall of the Bastille. The family came, in fact, from Rouen, and their head. Angel Raphael Louis
Delaunay, then aged 35, was probably a master dyer. He brought with him his wife, Dorothee Victoire Genevieve, aged 31, and their two
infant children, Louis Barthelemy (Bardtholomew) and Eulalie Pelagie. He was thus later on the scene than Borelle, but he did not have
the vexing delays of trying to sell his process; evidently he had capital, and was able to establish himself straight away. His
advertisement appeared some four months earlier than Borelle's so it is probable that, by this short margin, he was the first successful
Turkey Red dyer in England (as distinct from Scotland).
Delaunay was at first in partnership with Charles Payant, a Frenchman (perhaps also from Rouen) who had been in Manchester since
1777, earning his living by teaching French and Italian. Their advertisement ran as follows(20):
The connection with Payant did not last long. By the end of the next year he was back to teaching(21):
"FRENCH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES. CHARLES PAYANT, Ridge Field, Manchester, RETURNS his most
sincere Acknowledgments to his Friends in particular, and the Public at large, for the many Favours conferred on him
during the course of twelve Years—Respectfully informs them, he has entirely relinquished the Dyeing Business,
means to devote his Time to teaching the Languages, and giving Commercial Instructions, he having been formerly
a Merchant—Wishes to observe, the few Hours he employed in the Dyeing Concern, never engaged him a Moment from
due attendance to his Schools, though it has been artfully advanced to the contrary—Those who honour him with their
Patronage, may depend, he always will make his peculiar Study to deserve it, by constant Assiduity to the Improve-
ment of the Pupils, who shall be trusted to his Care . . ."
What differences there had been between Delaunay and Payant, we can only guess; but Delaunay found it prudent to insert a counter-
advertisement(22):
"TURKEY RED and other Colours. Mr. DELAUNAY, of Crumpsall,
takes this Opportunity of acquainting the Public
(notwithstanding idle Reports which have been advanced,
since his Separation of Partnership with Mr. Payant, to the
contrary) that he has continued, and does continue, to dye
TURKEY RED, and other fine COLOURS, as usual,
Informs Manufacturers, that his Warehouse is at Mr. David
Law's, Cateaton-Street, Manchester, where a Person attends
to take in Cotton, and give every Information required.
Flatters himself he shall be able to give Satisfaction to those
I who please to honour him with their Commands.
A. DELAUNAY attends himself as above regularly every
Thursday and Saturday, from twelve to four o'clock."
Delaunay's advertisements both describe his dyehouse as being in Crumpsall, though the directory for 1788 gives his address as
Blackley. Although, as mentioned above, there was a certain lack of precision about locations near the parish boundary, it seems likely
that at first the dyehouse was on the Crumpsall side of the little River Irk, and the dwelling house on the other. There was evidently
a move in 1794(23):
"A. DELAUNAY—TURKEY RED DYER. Respectfully gives Notice to his Friends and the Public, that next May
his HOUSE and DYE-HOUSE will be in BLAKELEY".
From the bankruptcy proceedings (see later) it is known that the family lived in Thames House, Blackley, but neither this nor
the dyehouse is marked on any known map. It is also known that a considerable amount of farmland was at one time owned by the
Delaunays, of which the only name still identifiable is Pike Fold. At this period many small manufacturers, both French and British,
still kept "one foot on the land"; there was reluctance to break entirely with an older way of life, and some degree of insurance
against failure in business.
However, after 20 years of apparently successful operation, Angel Delaunay was declared bankrupt in 1808. No particular
reason for this is known, though the economic climate towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars made things difficult for many small
businessmen. In partial satisfaction of his debts, he had to submit to a sale of his possessions, the notice of sale appearing on 26th
April 1808. Since there was then no limited liability, everything had to go, down to household furniture such as "sopha and covers".
The farming stock "of the said Bankrupt" was listed as "five cows in calf, one calf, three horses, two caravans, two carts six inch wheels,
iron arms, one plough, two pairs of harrows, one market cart, geers for four horses, about four tons of excellent hay, quantity of straw and
dung, a few loads of good potatoes, and sundry other articles". Of more interest is the list of "Dying Utensils ... a valuable assortment of
copper pans of various sizes, twelve lead vats, six large drying stoves, horse wheel and geering, madder mill, chopping
machine for madder roots, a large number of chemical and dyeing tubs, sundry wringing posts, a quantity of lead pipes and cocks,
sundry piece barrows and drying racks ..."
Evidently this latter material was not sold, for it was advertised again in different terms on 7th June: "copper pans of various sizes,
lead and iron vats, lead and wood cisterns, a large quantity of chymical and working tubs, two large stove pots and pipes, sundry
drying rails and yam poles, one madder mill, horse wheel and geering, one manganesse machine, wringing posts and hooks, two
wood sheds, sundry drains, sieves, stillages, scopes, buckets, etc."
Somehow, Angel Delaunay must have managed to pay off most of his debts. The Commissioners of Bankruptcy met twice to make
dividends of the Delaunay estate(24); and his Will, dated 30th December 1810(25), gives the impression of a man with substantial
possessions and a thriving business. The Will was evidently made during his last illness, for he died on 14th January 1811, aged 58.
Besides the two children already mentioned, born in Rouen, Angel Delaunay had four more, born later; two sons, George William
(1795-1833) and Michael (1803-1863), and two daughters Dorothy Frances and Adelaide (dates unknown). One-third of all the property
was bequeathed to the eldest son, Louis Barthelemy, together with a direction "that the trade of dyer ... be continued and carried on
by my son Louis Barthelemy for his own benefit according to the advantages which the share bequeathed already to him is capable of
affording".
Some time before their father's death, two of the Delaunay daughters opened a school, no doubt in order to ease the straightened family
circumstances. The notices of its opening have not been found, but the following advertisement appeared at the end of 1810(36):
"Blackley Board School. THREE MILES DISTANT FROM MANCHESTER. MISS DELAUNAY. A NATIVE
of France(27), presents her acknowledgments to her Friends and the Public, for the encouragement with which she has
been favoured since her commencement; she begs leave to inform them, that her School will re-open on Monday January
21, 1811.
Board of tuition, with the English and French Languages,
Needlework, etc., 28 Guineas per annum.
Without the French Language, 25 Guineas.
Entrance 1 Guinea.
Parlour Boarders 33 Guineas per annum.
Washing 15s per quarter.
Tea breakfast ditto 10s. 6d.
Dancing, Music, Drawing, etc., by approved Masters.
N.B. As the French Tongue is spoken in the family, Young Ladies will have many advantages for acquaintance and
fluency in the use of that Language, particularly those who enter as Parlour Boarders."
Notices of the school continued to appear in the Manchester press until 1816. By then it seems probably that the dyeing business
in the hands of Louis Bartholomew was sufficiently prosperous to release his sisters from the necessity of running a school.
Louis Bartholomew was, by all accounts, both a capable dyer and a successful man of business. From 1811 until about the time
of his death in 1865 the Delaunay works ran without any known reverses, and he was regarded as an exceptionally good employer.
"No old servant at the works" it was stated(28) "was ever discharged, even when incapacitated, and the place was over-run with
pensioners receiving full wages as long as they lived". His brother George, of whom almost nothing is known, became a partner on
coming of age in 1816, though he died while still in his thirties. Louis lived in some style, though without ostentation, in Hulton House(29)
—about where Hexagon House stands now—with his unmarried sister Dorothy acting as housekeeper. His brother Michael and sister
Ulalea (Eulalie), neither of whom married, lived in a smaller establishment, Ivy House, by the banks of the Irk. It was Louis who enlarged
the works to include, besides dyehouses, a printworks, an indigo mill, a gas works (providing their own lighting), counting house and
offices. He also laid out the coach road to Hulton House that became the present-day Delaunays Road, and built in 1830 the well-known
"square chimney", a local landmark demolished in 1960. As an overseer of the poor, some of the surviving Blackley rate books bear his
bold flowing signature. The family never broke their links with France. A letter of 1843, from Louis Delaunay to his son Charles, shows
that some of his children were sent to Rouen for their education, and that he was on terms of friendship with several Rouen dyers.
Michael Delaunay probably died in France, though he is interred in the family vault in St. Peter's churchyard in Blackley.
After Louis Delaunay's death in 1865, Hulton House and the works were purchased by a representative of another wave of con-
tinental immigrants—Ivan Levinstein and his family from Berlin, who brought with them the new technology of synthetic dyestuffs,
and opened a new chapter in the history of dyestuffs in Blackley.
Notes and References
(1) Wilfrid Cliffe, a chemist in ICI Dyestuffs Division at Blackley, died suddenly in 1964, leaving a quantity of notes on the
history of dyes and dyeing in Manchester, his spare-time interest for many years. Of this material, only that relating to
Turkey Red was sufficiently complete to be published; by kind permission of Mrs. Cliffe, the notes were reduced to
narrative form by Mr. D. Mason, formerly librarian of Dyestuffs Division. The present paper is an abridged and edited
version of this narrative, by Dr. W. V. Farrar, Department of History of Science and Technology, UMIST.
(2) Note for non-Mancunians: pronounced, as it used often to be spelt, Blakeley.
(3) This was correct when Mr. Cliffe compiled his notes: Hulton Brow has now disappeared under new buildings.
(4) WILSON, J., On light and colours, and what colouring matters are that dye cotton and linen (Manchester, 1786). An account
of Wilson's process is given by T. HENRY, Man. Mems., 3, 343 (1790).
(5) DOSSIE, R. (1768), quoted by C. BOLTON, Dyer and Textile Printer, 77, 602 (1937).
(6) For the claims sometimes made on behalf of Simon Spurritt of Isleworth and Dr. Berkenhout (a German or Dutchman), see
Bolton, ref. 5.
(7) Manchester Mercury, 15th March 1791. There are several references to "our Greek" in letters written by James Watt
junior, who was at that time working for Taylor and Maxwell (Boulton-Watt correspondence, Birmingham Public Library).
(8) On the introduction of Turkey Red dyeing into France, see H. WESCHER, Ciba Review, no. 135, 21 (1959).
(9) SEE, H., "The Normandy Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Treaty of 1786", Econ. Hist. Rev., 2, 308 (1929-
30).
(10) His personal success did not last long. Macintosh wrote to his father on 18th January 1787: "Papillon has now left us entirely,
we could not manage this unhappy temper ... we paid him his salary up to October, so as to be quite clear of him". Some
other ventures also apparently failed, and his career ends in obscurity. See C. A. PEEL, J. Soc. Dyers Col., 68, 496 (1952).
(11) This account is derived from the Journals of the House of Commons, vols. 41 and 42.
(12) This definite statement about dyeing piece goods is quite important, since it is often stated that the first successful
Turkey Red piece-dyer was Daniel Koechlin of Mulhouse in 1810 (probably following E. BAINES, History of the cotton
manufacture (London, 1835), p. 276).
(13) Ref. 11 records that the money had been paid by 19th April 1787.
(14) Manchester Mercury, 24th April 1787.
(15) Manchester Mercury, 25th December 1787.
(16) Manchester Mercury, 28th October 1788; repeated on 4th and 11th November.
(17) Journal of the House of Commons, vol. 53.
(18) Manchester Mercury, 31st July 1804.
(19) FRED L. LAVARE, Mane/tester City News, 4th August 1900.
(20) Manchester Mercury, 24th June 1788, and following two issues.
(21) Manchester Mercury, 15th December 1789. According to directory entries, Payant continued as a teacher until 1794.
But he was clearly a man of many parts, for he appears in later entries as manufacturer, twist merchant, commission
agent, foreign merchant, calico printer, and wine merchant. He married a sister of Peter Clare, the Quaker, John Dalton's
friend.
(22) Manchester Mercury, 20th April 1790.
(23) Manchester Mercury, 25th March 1794.
(24) Manchester Mercury, 27th December 1808 and 14th August 1810.
(25) In Lancashire County Record Office, Preston.
(26) Manchester Mercury, 18th December 1810. Later advertisements refer to "the Misses Delaunay", and the Will of Angel
Delaunay makes it clear that the two daughters were Dorothy and Adelaide. The school was conducted in the family home.
Hulton House.
(27) If this statement is true, Dorothy (or Adelaide) must have been bom during a return visit of their mother to Rouen; this
is not unlikely, since the Delaunays continued to have close links with France, and it seems from the Will that Angel's
wife held property there.
(28) "R.H.G.", Manchester City News, llth August 1900.
(29) Hulton House must have been acquired as the family home some time between the forced sale of Thames House in 1808
and the making of Angel's Will in 1810. It was demolished about 1920 to make way for administrative buildings.
Mr. Borelle's Ad in Manchester Mercury,
1788
Image Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft
1788
Image Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft
Delaunay and Payant Ad in Manchester
Mercury, 1788
Image Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft
Mercury, 1788
Image Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft
19th Century antique French fabric ca. 1815-1830. This piece was creating using a hand block printing
technique. The design is a Indienne Paisley. The dyestuffs used were madder or Adrianople red and
most likely woad for the blue. Although it is uncertain if this piece was made at the Delaunay`s
Dyeworks, it is a good representation of the colour Turkey Red.
Image and Caption Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft. Click Here for Delaunay Family History Website
technique. The design is a Indienne Paisley. The dyestuffs used were madder or Adrianople red and
most likely woad for the blue. Although it is uncertain if this piece was made at the Delaunay`s
Dyeworks, it is a good representation of the colour Turkey Red.
Image and Caption Courtesy of Deborah Howcroft. Click Here for Delaunay Family History Website
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Madder Red-A Revolutionary Colour by Anthony S. Travis
History of British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd. and ICI