Crimson
is a strong, bright, deep red color combined with some blue, resulting in a tiny degree of purple. It is originally the color of the dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio
, but the name is now also used for slightly bluish-red colors in general that are between red and rose.
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CRIMSON TICKETS
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History
Crimson
was produced using the dried bodies of the
kermes insect, which were gathered commercially in Mediterranean countries, where they live on the
Kermes oak, and sold throughout Europe. Kermes dyes have been found in burial wrappings in Anglo-Scandinavian
York. They fell out of use with the introduction of
cochineal, because although the dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity it needed ten to twelve times as much kermes to produce the same effect as cochineal.
Carmine
is the name given to the dye made from the dried bodies of the female
cochineal, although the name
crimson
is sometimes applied to these dyes too. Cochineal appears to have been discovered during the conquest of
Mexico by the Spaniard
Hernán Cortés, and the name 'carmine' is derived from the Spanish word for crimson. It was first described by
Mathioli in 1549. The pigment is also called
cochineal
after the insect from which it is made.
Alizarin
is a pigment that was first synthesized in 1868 by the
German chemists
Carl Gräbe and
Carl Liebermann and replaced the natural pigment
madder lake.
Alizarin crimson is a dye bonded onto
alum which is then used as a pigment and mixed with
ochre,
sienna and
umber. It is not totally colorfast.
Etymology
The word
crimson
has been recorded in English since 1400,
[1] and its earlier forms include
cremesin
,
crymysyn
and
cramoysin
(cf.
cramoisy, a crimson cloth). These were adapted via
Old Spanish from the
Medieval Latin cremesinus
(also
kermesinus
or
carmesinus
), the dye produced from
Kermes scale insects, and can be traced back to the
Turkish kirmizi
(red in Turkish), which in turn stems from the
Sanskrit krmi-ja
, a compound meaning "produced by a
worm" from
krmih
"worm" + -
ja
"produced" (from the
Proto-Indo-European *
gene
-).
A shortened form of
carmesinus
also gave the Latin
carminus
, from which comes
carmine.
Other cognates include the
Old Church Slavic cruminu
and the
Russian cermnyj
"red". Cf. also
vermilion.
Dyes
Carmine dyes, which give crimson and related red and purple colors, are based on an
aluminium and
calcium salt of
carminic acid.
Carmine lake
is an
aluminium or aluminium-tin
lake of cochineal extract, and
Crimson lake
is prepared by striking down an infusion of cochineal with a 5
percent solution of
alum and
cream of tartar.
Purple lake
is prepared like carmine lake with the addition of
lime to produce the deep
purple tone. Carmine dyes tend to fade quickly.
Carmine dyes were once widely prized in both the
Americas and in
Europe. They were used in paints by
Michelangelo and for the crimson fabrics of the
Hussars, the
Turks, the
British Redcoats, and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Nowadays carmine dyes are used for coloring foodstuffs, medicines and
cosmetics. As a
food additive, carmine dyes are designated
E120, and are also called
cochineal
and
Natural Red 4
. Carmine dyes are also used in some
oil paints and
watercolors used by artists.
Alizarin crimson
The shade of red on the infobox to the right is
alizarin crimson
. This is an artificially created color, used to replace the harder to obtain
rose madder.
Razzmatazz
Displayed at right is the color
razzmatazz
.
This color is a rich shade of crimson-rose.
Razzmatazz
was a new
Crayola crayon color chosen in 1993 as a part of the
Name The New Colors Contest
.
See also
- Red dye insects: Cochineal, Kermes vermilio
, Polish cochineal
- List of colors
- Scarlet
- Red
- Amaranth
- Alizarin Crimson
- Rose
- Carmine
References
- The first recorded use of ''crimson'' as a color name in English was in 1400 according to the following book: Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930--McGraw Hill Page 193; Color Sample of Crimson: Page 31 Plate 4 Color Sample K6
- web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #E3256B (Razzmatazz):