Transition from Natural to Early Synthetic Dyes in the Romanian Traditional Shirts Decoration

The traditional shirt (“ie”) is the most well-known element of Romanian anonymous textile art. Apart from aesthetic and utilitarian roles, it has strong symbolic significance, mainly through colours used for decoration. Very recently, with decoration over shoulder (“ia cu altiță”) was introduced as a identity part UNESCO heritage. Depending on ethnographic area, acquired special expressive particularities time. Particularly relevant that Valea Hârtibaciului, an area Transylvania in very centre Romania. Although sober appearance large fields white plain weave, discreetly decorated elaborated embroidery sleeve bracelets, shoulders neck. Even colour range motifs remain unchanged time, evolution materials subtle transition natural hues to more strident alternatives were observed late 19th early 20th centuries. For present study, samples taken representative objects collections ASTRA Museum, Sibiu Ethnographical Brasov, documented belonging Hârtibaciului dated museum archives century. dyes shirts’ monitored. Fibre identification made by optical microscopy infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR). Dye analysis performed liquid chromatography coupled UV-Vis (diode array) detection, while some also analysed mass spectrometric detection (LC-DAD-MS). Dyes extracted fibres acid hydrolysis. Identification based data collected standards, dyed fibres. synthetic dyes, dedicated library references built, which includes information relative representatives between 1850 1900, ‘Helmut Schweppe list’. According last decades century, dye sources such dyer’s broom, madder, Mexican cochineal indigoid gradually replaced dyes: fuchsine (1856), methyl violet (1861), alizarin (1871), brilliant green (1879), azo flavine 3R (1880), rhodamine B (1887) others.