This year we are revisiting our Linnaeus Apostles, who were sent out into the world from the University of Sweden, Uppsala in the 1700s to gather plant specimens, name and classify them using the binomial naming system, and identify plants that could help Sweden attain economic independence. This time we are looking at their efforts through the lens of textiles and plant dyes, with writer Viveka Hansen, author of Textilia Linnaeana: Global 18th Century Textile Traditions & Trade, as our guide.
Pehr Kalm (1716-1779) visited Finland and Russia as a student, and later traveled to England for six months, and then to the East Coast of America and Canada. His notes and diaries make many observations about textiles and textile dyeing, and show his special interest in how fibers were extracted from flax, hemp, cotton, and wool.
During his University years (1740-1747), Kalm worked for his sponsor, Baron Sten Carl Bielke (a friend of Linnaeus), to manage Bielke's trial cultivation at Lofstad, and to make scientific trips during the summer. Botany was the main focus of the trips, but Kalm also sought to learn how locals used the plants. He and other Apostles wrote pamphlets and gave lectures, promoting the use of domestic plants for dying.
During their six months in England, while arranging for passage to America, Kalm and his assistant, Lars Jungstrom, researched how people lived, used natural resources, and harvested and processed wool from sheep.
In North America Kalm and Jungstrom, travelled throughout the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and the southern part of Canada. Their notes include observations about local plants used for dyeing, for example:
My Example
Kalm visited the botanist John Bartram (1699-1777) on multiple occasions in the Philadelphia area between 1748-1751. He met Mrs. Bartram who was knowledgeable about dyeing. She told Kalm about dyeing with sassafras tree bark, which gives wool a beautiful color fast orange color. Her technique was to use urine as the mordant instead of alum, and to boil the dye in a cauldron of ore instead of iron. He also learned from her that a color fast red could be achieved with the bark from alder and spruce pine, and that brown wool was best dyed with bark from the black walnut tree.
Kalm also interviewed older settlers who had learned about dyeing from the Native Americans in their youth. By the time Kalm and Jungstrom were in the area, the natives had been driven out, so the information he gathered was second hand. But they learned that the natives had used dyes for grass mats, leather, and porcupine quills. Kalm also reported on saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria), and other yellow, red, orange, and black sources, and on indigo.
In 1763, Kalm and colleague Esaisis Holdkeg (1738-1798) published a dissertation on "North American Dye Plants", which summarized findings from America and Canada.
Pehr Kalm (1716-1779) visited Finland and Russia as a student, and later traveled to England for six months, and then to the East Coast of America and Canada. His notes and diaries make many observations about textiles and textile dyeing, and show his special interest in how fibers were extracted from flax, hemp, cotton, and wool.
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| Kalm described sassafras (Sassafras officinale) as producing an orange dye. Illustration from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (published before 1923 and public domain in the United States) |
During his University years (1740-1747), Kalm worked for his sponsor, Baron Sten Carl Bielke (a friend of Linnaeus), to manage Bielke's trial cultivation at Lofstad, and to make scientific trips during the summer. Botany was the main focus of the trips, but Kalm also sought to learn how locals used the plants. He and other Apostles wrote pamphlets and gave lectures, promoting the use of domestic plants for dying.
During their six months in England, while arranging for passage to America, Kalm and his assistant, Lars Jungstrom, researched how people lived, used natural resources, and harvested and processed wool from sheep.
In North America Kalm and Jungstrom, travelled throughout the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and the southern part of Canada. Their notes include observations about local plants used for dyeing, for example:
Color
|
Plant
|
Description
|
|---|---|---|
| Browns | Alder (Betula alnus) White oak (Quercus alba) Black walnut (Juglans nigra) |
Bark Bark (color fast) Hulls and bark (color fast) |
| Yellows | Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) | Flowers (works best for wool, with alum) |
| Reds | American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) |
Ripe berries (beautiful color, but fades) Fresh roots (was used by Native Americans as well) |
Kalm visited the botanist John Bartram (1699-1777) on multiple occasions in the Philadelphia area between 1748-1751. He met Mrs. Bartram who was knowledgeable about dyeing. She told Kalm about dyeing with sassafras tree bark, which gives wool a beautiful color fast orange color. Her technique was to use urine as the mordant instead of alum, and to boil the dye in a cauldron of ore instead of iron. He also learned from her that a color fast red could be achieved with the bark from alder and spruce pine, and that brown wool was best dyed with bark from the black walnut tree.
Kalm also interviewed older settlers who had learned about dyeing from the Native Americans in their youth. By the time Kalm and Jungstrom were in the area, the natives had been driven out, so the information he gathered was second hand. But they learned that the natives had used dyes for grass mats, leather, and porcupine quills. Kalm also reported on saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria), and other yellow, red, orange, and black sources, and on indigo.
In 1763, Kalm and colleague Esaisis Holdkeg (1738-1798) published a dissertation on "North American Dye Plants", which summarized findings from America and Canada.
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