Color database

For my dissertation on 18th century color production techniques, I am in
the throes of planning a color database.  I need to manage technical,
historical and anecdotal information for a large number of materials
used (I am working with dyes and dyestuffs, pigments and paints, and
glazes). Does anyone know of something similar already in existence?
(The ColorIndex, while useful just doesn't do the trick.)

    **** Moderator's comments:   I wrote to Sarah asking for more detail
    about the project and she supplied the following note:

        I'm trying to coordinate information about materials used to
        create color (and the way they were used) across these
        divisions, and so for a start, need to be able to look at what
        the materials *were*, including, in some cases, the different
        names used in each of these divisions to talk about the same
        thing. But I also need to be able to look at when X color (or,
        if I can come up with a way to do it, Y way of producing X color
        from Z material) was common practice, and what supplanted what.
        And then, I need to keep track of citations for all this....

        It had occurred to me that people in paintings conservation
        might have something like this already set-up; the closest thing
        in textiles would be the Color Index, which is put out jointly
        by AATCC (Am. Assoc of Textile Chemists & Colorists) and the
        Society of Dyers and Colourists (UK).  It's several giant
        volumes standardizing color names, etc but, because it's post
        WWI, it tends to give short shrift to the "natural" colors, and
        doesn't include anything that isn't commercially successful (let
        alone not commercially successful 200+ years ago!)

Please e-mail to me directly, as I am posting this in a number of
places.  I'll report back if I receive any response. Thanks, ]

Sarah Lowengard
New York City

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 8:3
                  Distributed: Tuesday, June 21, 1994
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