In this work we investigated the purple coloration of three 19 th century English dresses and one Australian wedding gown using a combination of thin layer chromatography (TLC) and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).įig. The identification of specific dyestuffs on textiles, especially when only small amounts of sample are available, is challenging due to a number of complexities including contamination and decomposition. Hofmann’s violet which shares the same base structure as methyl violet was discovered in 1863 and is redder.Crystal violet, one of a family of three methyl violet compounds synthesized by Charles Lauth in 1861, was marketed under the name “Violet de Paris”.Fuchsine or magenta was independently discovered by Hofmann and Verguin in 1858 and was more widely used than mauve.Perkin’s purple or mauve, discovered by Henry Perkin in 1856 is a mixture of four related aromatic compounds and was marketed for 10 years starting in 1859.Tyrian purple, in use since antiquity, is a natural dye derived from the mucous secretion of predatory sea snails. Prior to this time purple textiles were expensive and relegated to use by royalty or people of high status. One of the breakthroughs in textile coloration achieved during the 19 th century was the development of synthetic dyestuffs and in particular those with the colour purple.

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