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| The Charleston Museum |
Press Release |
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Exhibit to Explore South Carolina's Iconic Blue
 Charleston, SC - March 19, 2013 - The Charleston Museum presents an original exhibition, Indigo: Natural Blue Dye in the Lowcountry, April 27 - September 2, 2013 in its Historic Textiles Gallery. This small, focused exhibit will explore a brief history of the cultivation and production of indigo, Eliza Lucas Pinckney's important role and its curious dyeing procedure, along with examples of indigo-dyed textiles. Ranging from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, these include clothing and household goods which are examples of vatted indigo dyeing, "china blue" printing and blue "penciling," revealing indigo's vast complexities and allure. The Charleston Museum will kick off the exhibit with an Indigo Dyeing Workshop on April 27. For more information, visit www.charlestonmuseum.org or call (843) 722-2996.  Because of its range of blue color and lightfastness, indigo was easily the most popular natural blue dye for many centuries. Before the advent of synthetic dyes in 1856, all yarn and fabric was dyed with natural dyestuffs. Indigo, a leguminous plant grown in many parts of the world, did not thrive in Europe. Therefore, obtaining quality, affordable indigo was a challenge for Europeans and their colonists until a young girl in the 18th century South Carolina Lowcountry achieved this goal. Eliza Lucas Pinckney, carrying out her absent father's instructions and with the benefit of an enslaved labor force, succeeded in making this area a prime cultivator of indigo and made it a rich cash crop, second only to rice. While its production dropped off after the American Revolution, indigo had already woven itself into South Carolina culture and today holds the honor of the State Color and prominence in the state flag.
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Indigo: Natural Blue Dye in the Lowcountry Highlights
Garments in Indigo include an early 19th century bodice or short-gown (pictured second), made of indigo-dyed and natural cotton woven in a delightful plaid. A man's dark blue wool broadcloth coat (pictured at bottom) with fur collar, worn by Charlestonian Joel Roberts Poinsett around 1840 when he was Secretary of War, shows the deepest, darkest range of indigo blue.
 Indigo was popular for household goods, both homemade and imported. Pictured top are hand-woven coverlet fragments from the early 19th century, both made on South Carolina plantations of natural cotton and indigo-dyed wool. A fine printed linen bed valance with "penciled" indigo blue birds and leaves, pictured above, belonged to Eliza Lucas Pinckney in the mid to late 18th century. This printed cotton curtain depicting English farming scenes, pictured below, from the late 18th century was made using the "china blue" roller printing technique often done with indigo. Wrapping the exhibit up in the early 20th century is a silk botanical batik (pictured left) on an indigo field by Charleston Renaissance artist Anna Heyward Taylor.
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Photography
 Images within this press release are from the collections of The Charleston Museum and should not be reproduced without permission. We are happy to provide print-quality images upon request. If you have a particular time period for which you would like images, please let us know that, too.
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