[Steppes] Horse Blood Used For Dye?

[ED Reese]

Just gave this another read-through -- I think that the author is well meaning and creative, but her facts are a little off base.
 
Purple vestments are worn to give the last rights, because it is an Imperial color, and when Constantine adopted the Christian religion, the church in turn adopted the Imperial role for Christ -- the Prince of Peace, Ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven, etc. The priest, as his intermediary, wears purple to welcome the new "Saint" "Home" to "their Lord."
 
Horses certainly were for the rich -- an Ox most typically drew the cart and the plow of the "lesser sort". Horse racing is known as the "sport of kings", and even today, royalty and the use and pageantry of horses is worldwide.
 
Too much on the subject, I know, but it's misinformation like this that can give an undeserved reputation for "flakiness".
 
Esther

ED Reese <reese_esther at yahoo.com> wrote:
I haven't heard of them using this to get purple. In fact, since purple was the _rarest_ of colors you could get, I would think that would rule out horse blood. I could ve very wrong, of course, but it goes against what I know about the dye process and the color purple / crimson as horses and cruelty to them were and are ubiquitoius rather than rare. 
In fact, the only thing I've heard is that human blood (or animal blood, since it's basically very similar in its composition) can contribute to a brilliant red color in pottery glaze.

I am totally against horses being slaughtered as a luxury "food" item for foreign consumption, but I don't think horse blood was used as a dye per se.

I'm sure that horses were abused in other manufacturing processes, however.

HL Esther of Ennis Merth


Ashia Yother wrote:Hello everyone,

Out of curiosity for those with interest in dyes, or knowledge of
dyes. Do you know anything about the following? In up coming days it
will be Prevent Horse Slaughter Day in which we are to wear a purple
ribbon. While I was scanning the website, I noted they had a link as
to 'why wear purple?' which gave me the below reason:

"One of the organic ingredients often used to make purple dye in the
middle ages was the blood of horses (congealed, dried, and made into a
powder). Congealed blood from horses dries to a dark reddish purple
color. Purple was by far the most expensive of the color dyes to
produce, and cloth made from the dye was only within the reach of the
very rich and powerful. The legacy of abusing horses unfortunately is
a long and varied one. In France, the horses were often taken from the
Royal Stables to provide the coveted purple dyes for the Royal Court
of France. The French aristocrats considered the horse to be royal in
nature. Throughout Europe, the royals associated the color with power
and wealth, the common folk associated it with tragedy and death.
Purple vestments are usually donned when giving a dying person their
last rights."

They did not give me any information on where they found this. I was
curious about it. Anyone ever heard of this? If so was it just
horses or was it all animals?

-- 
Lady Allessandra di Giovanni
Steppes Equestrian Marhsall

MKA: Ashia Yother
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