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Añil Indigo & Grana Cochineal

Grana cochinilla y añil

Fermented Indigofera suffruticosa leaf dye and crushed Dactylopius coccus nopal scale-insect crimson used by Zapotec weavers in Oaxaca.

Photograph · Folkroom Archive · CC BY-SA 4.0+ Add licensed photo →
Classification
Material
Origin / Scope
Mexico
Connected Rooms
1 Tradition
Bibliography
1 Source

Archival note & context

Before synthetic aniline dyes arrived in the late nineteenth century, Oaxaca's grana cochineal was New Spain's most prized export after silver, yielding shades from pale rose to deep carmine depending on lime juice or alum mordants.

Paired with fermented añil indigo vats in Teotitlán del Valle, these colourfast organic dyes endure for centuries on hand-spun churro wool.

Used in traditions

1

Sources

1

What’s on this page is sourced from the citation below.

SourcePublisherLicence
Natural Dyes of Oaxaca: Cochineal and Indigo TraditionsMuseo Textil de Oaxaca, 2018CC BY-SA 4.0
"Añil Indigo & Grana Cochineal." Folkroom Archive (Materials), https://folkroom.org/materials/natural-indigo-and-cochineal · CC BY-SA 4.0.