Indigo
Jenny Balfour-Paul

ISBN: 1-904982-15-8• $75• Hardback • 2006

This classic book, previously published by British Museum Press, is now an Archetype title

Indigo tells the compelling and comprehensive story of the world’s oldest, most magical, and best-loved dye. Produced from plants by a process akin to alchemy, indigo has a unique chemistry that renders it compatible with all natural fibre. From the time of the ancient Pharaohs it made an incredible impact worldwide as the world’s only source of blue of every hue, being the mark both of ‘blue-collar workers’ and of aristocrats wearing ‘royal blue’. It was also indispensable for creating a glorious range of colours in combination with other natural dyes, it provided paint and medicine, and it featured in many rituals. Its fascinating history continued after the invention of synthetic indigo, used to dye the world’s most popular garment, denim jeans. For environmental reasons, indigo from nature is making a comeback today in many countries.

Jenny Balfour-Paul renowned authority on indigo, has been publishing, lecturing, exhibiting and broadcasting on indigo and related subjects for over twenty years. An Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, she continues to travel extensively in pursuit of her research projects, and has much practical experience with indigo plants and dyestuff.

Contents: Introduction
The Myth and the Magic
From Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Indigo’s Heyday, The Downfall of Woad and Salvation by Denim
Indigo Plants and the Making of their Dye
Blue Nails – Indigo Dyeing Worldwide
The Variety of Decorative Techniques
‘For Richer for Poorer’ – Textiles Prestigious and Popular
Blue Art
In Sickness and in Health – Blue Beards, Blue Bodies
Into the Future

The ‘book of books’ on Indigo -- Hali

This splendid book has all one could wish for in the study of indigo--Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

Thoroughly satisfying…comprehensive, accessible and perceptive--Crafts

This beautiful book surpasses all I could have ever hoped for and will, I am sure, become the classic, definitive work on indigo and its place in human history--The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers