A Comparative Study of Indigo Dyes and Dyeing in 19thCentury Korea and England

This paper is a comparative analysis of the $19^{th}$ century practice of indigo dyes and dyeing in Korea and England. From over hundreds species of indigo plants in the world, it was dyer's knotweed and woad that were cultivated in Korea; however, the only indigo plant grown in England was woad. Indigo dye was produced in the form of damp indigo sediment (jeon) in Korea; however, imported indigo (as a main dye) and couched woad (as an additional dye) were indigo dyes used in England. There existed three kinds of indigo vats, the ice vat, ash-water vat, and indigo sediment (jeon) vat, in Korea. The fresh leaves of indigo were used for both the ice vat and ash-water vat. The ice vat was very convenient for preparation, but had a weakness in the inability to produce a very deep shade of blue. The ash-water vat and indigo sediment (jeon) vat were in use for producing a very deep shade of blue. The indigo sediment Goon) vat was employed presumably only by professional dyers. The indigo vat practiced in England was categorized into two types; one was woad-indigo vat, and the other was an indigo powder vat prepared by using imported indigo rock. There was a tendency to adopt different kinds of indigo vats according to the material to be dyed. The woad-indigo vat was employed for the dyeing of wool. A few of chemical vats with imported indigo were adopted, especially for the dyeing of cotton. Indigo dyers in 19th century Korea were differentiated from the rest of the dyers. They managed the growing of indigo plants as well as the production of indigo sediment (jeon). Woad dyers in 19th century England handled woolen cloth as well as worsted and woolen yarn in general. However, they sometimes dyed silk skein as well. They produced several colors such as black, blue, slates, grays, by using both woad and imported indigo.