Interesting what we take for granted, isn’t it? For instance, when was the last time any of us stopped to think about the color blue? When one asks about it, what comes to mind most frequently is that the sky is blue. There! It is all around us, so everybody knows about blue. Not really. Blue is a color with a past. The ancient descriptions of the sky say it was colorless or white or just neutral. Little children often do not see the sky as having a color, or they use blue for a strip at the top of their drawings, with a brown strip at the bottom for earth, and a great white space in between (air?).
Blue is a mysterious creature, perfect for expressing a vision, or at least part of one, as abstract expressionist Norman Lewis conceived of it. The painting above has us perhaps submerged in the “deep blue sea.” Or perhaps we are wandering about in a blue dream. There seem to be some objects, a tower, some shrubs, a hill. However, nothing is distinct in this shades-of-blue netherworld, which makes the painting all the more haunting.
Blue is not a naturally occuring color, and really very little on earth is actually blue, not the grasses, not most flowers, not animals or humans. Even the “blue of the sky” has nothing to do with any tactile material, but is simply a colorful trick of the eye produced when the length of the sun’s rays are long. When the rays are short, we see reds and oranges. We think of blue in modern times as being a cool color, but as Michel Pastoureau in Bleu, Histoire d’une couleur, states “…hot and cold colors are purely conventional and function differently according to the epoque (in the Middle Ages, for example, blue was a hot color)…”(p.7). The color has often been associated with green, a color much more familiar and commented upon by the Greeks and Romans, who by the way referred to the sea as “wine-dark waters.” Some tribal people when shown a series of green squares and one blue one, see the blue one as just another green square, a bit different, but green (“The Color Blue: History, Science, Facts” dunnedwards.com) While turquoise and lapis lazuli existed in certain areas on earth, it seems that people began to “see” blue when they started making the color, and that started 5500 years ago. Where? Egypt, of course.
The Ancient Egyptians were known for their love of faience. Although other civilizations, such as those in Mesopotamia knew of faience, it was the Ancient Egyptians that were most famous for their fabulous blue faience. It ranged in color from deep blue to sky blue to green. It was the first syntheically made color as it did not come from ground turquoise or lapis.The Egyptians would super heat a combination of quartz sand crystals with sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and copper oxide (itself a way to produce blue), so that the substance could be used to form objects or to coat the inside or the outside of other objects. Faience itself is a type of glass, so its surface is shiney. That shine reminded the Ancient Egyptians of the sun, and the permanent glimmer of the objects was looked upon as magical and as a sign of rebirth in the afterlife.
The necklace above shows the fine work that even a humble person might acquire in order to add to his burial goods. The tomb of Wah is a simple one, and seemingly none of the archeologists expected to find any treasures to speak of when they discovered it. However, when the mummy was unwrapped in 1940, a number of beautiful faience jewelry items were found along with the necklace above, which adorned the chest of the mummy. This indicates how popular and accessible blue faience was in that ancient culture. (For a better picture and an article see metmuseum.org.)
Blue faience was also often used to make Ushabtis, the little figures who were assigned to work in the afterlife on behalf of their mummified owner. The alabaster sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti I had figures cut into it that were colored with blue infill and the interior was treated with a blue made from copper. In 1817, Giovanni Belzoni, who uncovered the tomb (sadly, robbed in ancient times), found the bottom of the sarcophagus to be pure translucent white with the blue lining still apparent. The transfer of the sarcophagus to London and almost 200 years of humidity and air pollution has turned it a buff color with the blue lining gone. Even the blue infill on the figures is now a dirty gray because of failed attempts to recreate the ancient color in the 1800s. collections.soanes.org
The history of blue runs deep among the Ancient Egyptians, as lapis lazuli was another of their favorites. Imported from Afghanistan, its long journey and the beauty of the stone made it an expensive prize. Legend has it that pharaohs made their top advisors wear necklaces of lapis lazuli, because it was believed that he who wore lapis lazuli could not lie. Though blue flowers are rare, the Ancient Egyptians even had that in the blue lotus. Often depicted on the walls of their tombs with both men and women sniffing the fragrance of the flower, it supposedly produced a feeling of well-being and aroused sexual desire.
Not unlike the secret of how to make Egyptian Blue which was lost for a while (one of the discoverers of the formula was Dr. George Washington Carver, who studied a lot more than how to rotate cotton crops with those of peanuts), another fabulous blue that was also lost is Mayan Blue. Its rediscovery in 1931 came about because of scientific advances that allowed researchers to discover the key ingredient, a rare type of clay found in southern Mexico called “polygorskite.” This blue was developed between the 6th and 8th centuries CE, though there is evidence that it existed as early as 300 CE. It is not affected by erosion, the passage of time, biodegradation or even modern solvents! (“Origins of Maya Blue in Mexico” sciencedaily.com.) The famous 8th century murals of Bonampak on the Yucatan peninsula (see OfArtandWine.com “Bonampak’s Temple of the Murals”) were also known for the sparkle in the heavenly blue paint. Scientists have found that it comes from the use of azurite, a stone imported to the Maya lands from Arizona, which just shows that the desire for blue can reach to products from far distant lands. (For more on Mayan Blue and the meaning of the color for the Maya, see Production of Maya Blue youtube.com)
While the Chinese favored red as the color of good luck, they were known for making their fine porcelain in blue and white. Blue and white Chinese porcelain first appeared in the Tang dynasty (7th to early 10th centuries). However, some of the most famous blue and white Chinese porcelain appears in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).(For more see “Chinese Blue and White Porcelain,” Victoria and Albert Museum, London vam.ac.uk.) It was this porcelain that was imported into the royal art collection of Persia, modern Iran, and caught the eye of the Dutch traders, who brought it to Europe. Though the national color of the Dutch is orange, so popular was this blue in Holland that they decided to begin to make their own, called Delft Blue.
When it comes to paintings in Occidental art, blue takes on a whole new life, moving from hot to cool and from a detail to being the subject of the painting itself (see the Lewis painting at the top of the page). Paintings of the Virgin Mary in the middle ages normally show her wearing what was then a hot color, blue, while Mary Magdalene was most often pictured wearing red, a cool color. Perhaps the Virgin Mary was thought to be closer to divinity, so she was dressed in a hot color, while Mary Magdalene was a former sinner (or so they say) and thus farther from god and dressed in a cool color. At any rate over the years things began to change and blue cooled off quite a bit. Next time we will take a look at some famous blue paintings.
Images used in this post are either in Public Domain or used in accordance with Fair Use Policy.
Resources used for this post are linked in the text of the article. However, two other sources were used:
Seithy the First, King of Egypt: Life and Afterlife by Aiden Dodson
Bleu: Histoire d’une coulour by Michel Pastoureau
For more on Marjorie Vernelle, see the author page at amazon.com/author/marjorievernelle or go to the Art Blog at vernellestudio.com. For my original art goods see etsy.com/shop/VernelleArtStudio.
The Sweeter the Berry: Berry Wines
Berry wines have a rather mixed reputation. Since they are by nature sweet – very sweet, they have often been used to flavor that favorite of the 1980s, wine coolers. Elderberry wine, a supposed favorite of old ladies of a certain era, was of course, the poisoning method used in Arsenic and Old Lace. (Of Art and Wine does not recommend trying this.) Berry wines, though often do bring to mind great-grandma in her kitchen making use of an overflow harvest of berries. What couldn’t be eaten outright went into pies, canning jars, and wine bottles. In fact, making berry wines is often done in just such a low key manner that it may be one of the most accessible forms of alcoholic beverages around the world, as it can be made from bananas, pineapples, lichee fruit, oranges, and a variety of other sweet fruits not normally associated with wine. While we venerate “real wine,” i.e. that which is made from grapes, we do have to remember that grapes are a fruit, too. So let’s take our noses out of the air and really look at what is going on with berry wines.
Sometimes when one is dealing with a well-established idea of what a product must be, rather than compare the new creation to that which is established, it is better to start a new category. That is what Michael Terrien did when he decided to take advantage of the blueberry growing industry in Maine. Basically he decided to make a blueberry wine without adding anything extra, which meant that he had to use champagne making techniques or “bubble it.” By doing so he sought to create a special category of wine rather than have his sparkling blueberry wine compared to the sparkling grape wines. He also sought to help the blueberry industry in Maine as the natural Maine blueberry is the source of all the hybrid blueberries grown around the world. The fact that the fruit is high in antioxidents could also be a helping factor in creating a wider market for the wine. It is now sold on the East Coast and Southern California, as well as on the website, where you can find out more and meet the Bluet team (bluet.me)
Talk about great-granny in the kitchen, black current wine seems to be quite popular as a homemade wine, judging by the number of websites with recipes for making your own homebrew. I’ll let you do the research on that one; the recipes are easy to find. However, I did find that Southern Homebrew offers a black currant wine base to help get you started should you decide to go pioneer and make your own black currant wine (southernhomebrew.com).
Bottled berry wines are easier to find, with Stella Rosa Blackberry being made from Italian red grape varieties and vine-ripened blackberry purée. Cara Mello makes both an interesting blueberry wine (Cara Mello Blueberry), which is a sweet treat to serve with nuts and cheeses or with a dessert. The best is over ice, but you can mix it with your favorite cocktail. Also interesting is Cara Mello Peach, which comes in a delicate pale pink color and works fabulously well over ice. It is full of flavorful juicy peaches with a hint of the peach blossom, as well. Arbor Mist makes a blackberry and merlot wine that combines the best of both worlds in an unexpected way described as “ripe and delicious.”
While Apothic Wines, Modesto, California, makes red wine blends from grapes, there is one of their wines that draws attention, Apothic Brew. Its tasting notes are “Bold, Blackberry, Mocha,” but the really interesting part is that the wine is infused with cold brew coffee. It is full bodied blend of reds with concentrated blackberry notes with subtle chocolate and mocha traits of cold brew. apothic.com.
Of course, we have the spritzers, with fruit. The one above is made from dry white wine, soda, and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Christine at cookthestory.com shares a neat trick to not water the spritzer down with melting ice. She uses frozen berries, which add to the taste. Berries are also a nice companion to sparkling wines, especially a nice rosé sparkler with a strawberry or two to add both flavor and flair. I shall end where we began with the bottled wine cooler. Yes. they are with us, and Seagram’s leads the pack with its Seagram’s Escapes: Jamaican Me Happy! Lemons, strawberries, watermelon and guava. Get one ready for a trip (if even imaginary) to the Caribbean. Bon voyage!
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©marjorie vernelle 2022
Coming Soon: Painting’s Curious Color – Blue (continued), and Wines of Noble Rot.
Well, there he is The Blue Boy, the painting that became the most famous of its day and one that set out to prove that blue could hold its own by itself. Of course, other painters found out the value of a blue palette. Of Art and Wine looks at Vermeer, Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse as well and offers a bit of insight into the term Noble Rot.