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Victoria Finlay
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Colour : Travels Through the Paintbox Paperback – Import, January 1, 2003

by Victoria Finlay (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 293 ratings
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Part travelogue, part narrative history, 'Colour' unlocks the history of the colours of the rainbow, and reveals how paints came to be invented, discovered, traded and used. This remarkable and beautifully written book remembers a time when red paint was really the colour of blood, when orange was the poison pigment, blue as expensive as gold, and yellow made from the urine of cows force-fed with mangoes. It looks at how green was carried by yaks along the silk road, and how an entire nation was founded on the colour purple. Exciting, richly informative, and always surprising, 'Colour' lifts the lid on the historical palette and unearths an astonishing wealth of stories about the quest for colours, and our efforts to understand them.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    512 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Sceptre
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    5.04 x 1.34 x 7.72 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0340733292
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0340733295
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sceptre; New edition (January 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0340733292
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0340733295
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.04 x 1.34 x 7.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 293 ratings

About the author

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Victoria Finlay

Victoria Finlay

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I’ve just published my fourth book, Fabric: the Hidden History of the Material World (out in the UK November 2021, due in the US June 2022). It’s the last, and most personal in what's turned out to be a trilogy, together with Colour (2002) and Jewels (2005). In a way they are each about the histories of small, colourful and (usually) lovely objects, but they are also about how we humans try and make sense of the world through symbolism, stories, and the things we use and own.

For Fabric I travelled to many places, including Papua New Guinea to learn how to make cloth out of trees; Guatemala to try and spin cotton; China to see the Neolithic pot which held the earliest known example of coloured silk; Gee’s Bend Alabama to learn about patchwork; northern India to find out what was so extraordinary about the pashmina shawls woven in Kashmir; and Paisley to discover why exactly that Scottish town became associated with the patterns on those Kashmir shawls. I began the research just after my parents died, three months apart, and inevitably I found myself thinking about how fabrics can give a glimpse of something truthful, a clue to what is beneath the surface of things.

My previous book was called A Brilliant History of Color in Art. At the beginning I thought, oh that won't take much work as I'd already written Colour. But actually it involved a whole load of new research and ideas, and it took AGES to write (mostly between 1am and 6am). It's beautifully designed, which I can say because I had very little to do with that. And of course it's packed full of great art images from the Getty Museum and elsewhere

I first became fascinated with colours when I was eight, and my father showed me the stained-glass in Chartres cathedral and explained how the blue glass was made 800 years ago and we couldn't make it like that anymore. Many years later I gave up my job as arts editor at The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong to write Colour: Travels through the Paintbox (in the US, Color: a Natural History of the Palette).

The author photo was taken at the Getty when I was so happy to find a case full of pigment samples. The face-painting photo was taken on the Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia where Doreen Tipoulera created the Big Sheep, Little Sheep Dreaming in ochre on my face. And the Afghanistan picture was taken at a house in Sar-e-sang, where miners dynamited for blue. At the moment the shutter was pressed I had just noticed something metallic under the sofa I was leaning against. It was an AK47.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
293 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

elisabeth
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book on history of pigments
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023
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Have just started this but enjoy the travelogue nature of a deep-dive into history of pigments.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for background to history of colour
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2017
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Very useful for the colour unit of my interior decoration course. Writing is very lively which makes it very readable. I want to get the companion book.
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E. Linda Segars
5.0 out of 5 stars A facinating history of where our color pallete comes from.
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2013
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This book was one I just happened to pick up at a book store by chance and turned out to be a great find. I found the history really facinating. It gives me a whole new look at the world of art and how artists chose colors and why. Another one that I passed on to friends.
3 people found this helpful
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Sergio
4.0 out of 5 stars Art, history, culture, and chemistry!
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2011
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A marvelous mix of history, culture, chemistry, and the practical, social, and artistic issues of the use of colour. I had no particular interest in the topic based on the title, but, after some strong recommendations, picked up this work and was captivated. It's quite a lengthy tome, but is easy to read a chapter at a time whenever the mood is right. Each chapter focuses on one colour (or black, brown or white), and delves into where pigments and dyes come from, how they are made, the chemical and biological hazards associated with various sources and methods, the related cultural history, the impact of a colour on historical events, etc., ,etc., etc. This book is really loaded with historical, cultural, and scientific insights that will capture the mind regardless of your interest in the subject of colour itself. Highly recommended.
9 people found this helpful
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marla runge
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality source for color information
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020
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Extremely well written
3 people found this helpful
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Davidoo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for a color history nerd
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed it
Would have liked it a bit more chemistry tying it to natural pigments but glad I got it
One person found this helpful
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Karen Trythall
3.0 out of 5 stars maybe Mundane
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019
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Less exciting than hoped
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hereiam
5.0 out of 5 stars such an interesting book about where colours COME from!
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2012
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This is one of the most interesting books I have. It investigates the history and provenance of the colours we take for granted every day. Such a well researched and yes, interesting book.
One person found this helpful
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Christine May
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2023
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A very informative read and a jolly good story.
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Lara Cristina Jerónimo Duarte
5.0 out of 5 stars Such an interesting read
Reviewed in Spain on October 5, 2023
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Love this book. Have gifted it to countless people.
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Marguerite Larmand
5.0 out of 5 stars Want to travel to remote places in the world while staying home?
Reviewed in Canada on May 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
Victoria Findlay's book COLOUR will have you travelling to remote places that are in some cases, not even marked on a map. She is searching for the source of natural pigments and dyes; those used by artists of the past. For those who wonder what powdered rock makes that fabulous blue, what binder holds it in suspension, what makes it permanent, never fading for centuries, you will find this book fascinating. The hardcover is heavy from high quality paper on which is printed beautifully coloured historic images and a paperback that can be carried around while reading it.
3 people found this helpful
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Lee W
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book
Reviewed in Australia on March 9, 2024
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The writing is beautiful, the pages are full of information in a highly readable style. I'm rapt in it. Thanks for all the research. Fascinating. The only reason I gave it 5 stars was because I could not give it 10.
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Marta
4.0 out of 5 stars Molto interessante
Reviewed in Italy on December 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
L'approccio all'argomento è originale, mescola storie di colori con viaggi e il risultato è piacevole e divertente. Consigliato a chiunque ami i colori e si emozioni anche solo al pensiero di un'ocra colorata.
Scritto bene, fluido.
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