folium

Ingredients

Chrozophora tinctoria

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The dye was identified as folium based on characteristic reflectance peaks. General Persian extraction methods for folium involve fruit cuticles and cold water, sometimes shifting the color from purple to blue by adding sal-ammoniac (noshādar) (p. 28).

Evidence

"The two occurrences of folium in ms. Arabe 5847, identified by the authors by the typical absorption bands in the FORS spectrum, concern a small detail of vegetal decoration, in a light violet tone, and the pale blue robe of a character (see e.g. f. 156r, Figure 17)."

Remarks

Ms. Arabe 5847 is an illustrated copy of the Maqāmat by Al-Ḥariri. It was written and painted in 634 A.H. (1236–37 CE) by Yahyā ibn Mahmūd al-Wāsiti, active in Baghdad during the late Abbasid era. This manuscript shows the use of folium in Mesopotamia during the 13th century (p. 26).