Summary in Bullet Points

Common madder (Rubia tinctorum) [46] is a plant already known in the Middle East back in ancient times. From its roots a red extract, called lake, could be isolated (Fig. 2.17). It was already described by Phny the Elder. The Arabic name for the red root is alizari . 

17 Rubia tinctorum Coloured copperplate print by Nicolaus Friedrich Eisen-berger, from the Herbal of Elisabeth Blackwell, Nuremberg (1765) and a photograph of the plant. 

In the 16th century, the process for the preparation of madder lake reached France. In 1868, 50,000 tonnes of madder roots with a dye content of 1 % were harvested. 

Depending on the laking medium, the colour of the lake obtained varied from scarlet (tin-containing lake) through carmine-red (aluminium lake, Turkey red ) and brown-violet (chromium-containing mordant) to blue or even violet (iron-containing complexes). 

Insects provided another important source of red colours, Kermes, a mordant dye like alizarin, was the most important red dyestuff in Europe from antiquity. Reference to the dyeing of robes and tapestries may be found in the Old Testament. 

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