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Cardon/ Brémaud: Antoine Janot´s 85 colours

Crow’s wing, pomegranate flower, daffodil, emerald … the rainbow of hundreds of colours dyed by Antoine Janot and his workers, year after year, on the fine wool broadcloths produced in the south of France for export to the Levant. Who was Antoine Janot? A master-dyer at work during the Age of Enlightenment, a “dodgy adventurer, as reckless, haughty and dangerous as he is masterful a dyer”. This Workbook traces Janot’s life-long quest to create beautiful and fast colours. Tapping unexpected archive sources and combining experimental archaeology and colorimetry, it systematically explores his dyeing processes for colours obtained exclusively using natural colorants. It brings a pioneering contribution to the history of colours and colour nomenclature. It provides an invaluable inspiration and practical tool in today’s search for alternatives to the ongoing mass pollution of our environment caused by synthetic fibres and colorants.