View source for Mauve

{{Short description|Pale purple colour}}
{{About|the color mauve|other uses|Mauve (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox color
|title=Mauve (mallow)
|hex=E0B0FF
|source=Maerz and Paul<ref>The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called ''mauve'' in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill; the color "mallow" is displayed on page 125, Plate 51, Color Sample I3 Note: It is stated in ''A Dictionary of Color'' that ''mallow'' and ''mauve'' are two different names used in English to refer to exactly the same color—the name ''mallow'' came into use in 1611 and ''mauve'' came into use as its synonym in 1856—see under the entry for each name on page 198 in the Index. See also discussion of the color Mallow (Mauve) on page 166.</ref>
|isccname=Brilliant purple}}
[[File:Wilde Malve.JPG|thumb|[[Malva sylvestris|Mallow]] wildflower]]

'''Mauve''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|oʊ|v|audio=En-uk-mauve.ogg}} {{respell|MOHV}};<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/mauve.html |title=Mauve |access-date=2008-02-26 |author=Brians, Paul |work=Common Errors in English |publisher=[[Washington State University]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225154308/http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/mauve.html |archive-date=2008-02-25}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɔː|v|audio=En-us-mauve.ogg}} {{respell|MAWV}}) is a pale [[purple]] color<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mauve |title=mauve |publisher=[[Lexico|Oxford Dictionaries]] (British & World English) |date=2012-07-31 |via=web.archive.org |access-date=2022-09-01 |archive-date=2012-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731002104/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mauve |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'', College Edition (1964): "any of several shades of delicate purple."</ref> named after the [[Malva|mallow]] flower (French: {{Lang|fr|mauve}}). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–1798 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. Another name for the color is '''mallow''',<ref>Maerz and Paul. ''A Dictionary of Color''. New York: 1930, [[McGraw Hill Education|McGraw-Hill]]. p. 198</ref> with the first recorded use of ''mallow'' as a color name in [[English language|English]] in 1611.<ref>Maerz and Paul. ''A Dictionary of Color''. New York: 1930, [[McGraw Hill Education|McGraw-Hill]]. p. 198; Color Sample of Mallow: p. 125, Plate 51, Color Sample I3</ref>

Mauve contains more [[grey|gray]] and more [[blue]] than a pale tint of [[magenta]]. Many pale wildflowers called "blue" are more accurately classified as mauve.  Mauve is also sometimes described as pale [[Violet (color)|violet]].

==Mauveine, the first commercial aniline dye==
{{main|Mauveine}}
The synthetic dye '''mauve''' was first so named in 1859. Chemist [[William Henry Perkin]], then 18, was attempting to synthesize [[quinine]] in 1856; quinine was used to treat [[malaria]].<ref>[http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/10048 ''Jubilee of the discovery of mauve and of the foundation of the coal-tar colour industry by Sir W. H. Perkin''] (1906) - digital facsimile from the [[Linda Hall Library]]</ref> He noticed an unexpected residue, which turned out to be the first [[aniline]] dye. Perkin originally named the dye [[Tyrian purple]] after the historical dye, but the product was renamed ''mauve'' after it was marketed in 1859.<ref>{{cite book|last=Travis|first=Anthony S.|title=The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe |date=1993|publisher=Lehigh Univ. Press|location=Bethlehem|isbn=978-0934223188|page=53}}</ref><ref name="StClair">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=9781473630819|location=London|pages=169–171|oclc=936144129}}</ref> It is now usually called ''Perkin's mauve'', ''mauveine'', or ''aniline purple''.

Earlier references to a mauve dye in 1856–1858 referred to a color produced using the semi-synthetic dye [[murexide]] or a mixture of natural dyes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Travis|first=Anthony S.|title=The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe|date=1993|publisher=Lehigh Univ. Press|location=Bethlehem|isbn=978-0934223188|pages=45–6}}</ref> Perkin was so successful in marketing his discovery to the dye industry that his 2000 biography by [[Simon Garfield]] is simply entitled ''Mauve''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Garfield, S.|year=2000|title=Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World |publisher=Faber and Faber, London, UK|isbn=978-0-571-20197-6}}</ref> Between 1859 and 1861, mauve became a fashion must-have. The weekly journal ''[[All the Year Round]]'' described women wearing the colour as "all flying countryward, like so many migrating birds of purple paradise".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Garfield|first=Simon|date=2000-09-21|title=Simon Garfield on mauve|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/sep/21/fiction.simongarfield|access-date=2020-05-27|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'' magazine]] published cartoons poking fun at the huge popularity of the colour: "The Mauve Measles are spreading to so serious an extent that it is high time to consider by what means [they] may be checked."<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Malaria Gave Us Mauve|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-malaria-gave-us-mauve-180958427/|last=Blakemore|first=Erin|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Colors / Mauve {{!}} Shelley Jackson|url=http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/28/jackson.php|last=Jackson|first=Shelley|website=cabinetmagazine.org|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref>

But, because it faded easily, the success of mauve dye was short-lived; by 1873, it was replaced by other synthetic dyes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Travis|first=Anthony S.|title=The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe|date=1993|publisher=Lehigh Univ. Press|location=Bethlehem, PA|isbn=978-0934223188|page=61}}</ref> As the memory of the original dye soon receded, the contemporary understanding of mauve is as a lighter, less-saturated color than it was originally known.<ref>[http://www.straw.com/sig/dyehist.html ''History of Dyes from 2600 BC to 20th Century - natural dyes, synthetic''], by Susan C. Druding, 1982</ref>

The 1890s are sometimes referred to in retrospect as the "''Mauve Decade''" because of the popularity of the subtle color among progressive artistic types, both in Europe and the US.<ref>{{cite book
 |title        = The Mauve Decade: American Life At The End Of The Nineteenth Century
 |author       = Thomas Beer
 |publisher    = A. A. Knopf
 |year         = 1926
 |url          = http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/MauveX1.htm
 |access-date   = 5 February 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170713/http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/MauveX1.htm
 |archive-date = 2016-03-03
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref>

==Variations==

===Rich mauve===
{{Infobox color
|title=Mauve (Crayola)
|hex=E285FF
|source=[[Crayola]]
|isccname=Vivid purple}}

The color displayed at right is the rich tone of mauve called ''mauve'' by [[Crayola]].
{{Clear}}

===French mauve (deep mauve)===
{{Infobox color
|title=Mauve (Pourpre.com)
|hex=D473D4
|source=Pourpre.com<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pourpre.com/fr/dictionnaire/file/mauve|title=Couleur mauve : définition et codes couleur|first=Yan|last=Bilik|website=pourpre.com|access-date=2020-01-22|archive-date=2020-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203124444/http://pourpre.com/fr/dictionnaire/file/mauve|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|isccname=Vivid purple}}

The color displayed at right is the deep tone of mauve that is called ''mauve'' by
[http://pourpre.com/chroma Pourpre.com],<ref>{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208190133/http://pourpre.com/chroma/ |date=2016-12-08}}</ref> a color list widely popular in [[France]]. 
{{Clear}}

===Opera mauve===
{{Infobox color
|title=Opera mauve
|hex=B784A7
|source=[[ISCC-NBS]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-o.htm|title=Retsof online version of ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names - Oa through Oz|date=November 22, 2012|access-date=January 9, 2025|archive-date=November 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220323/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-o.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
|isccname=Light reddish purple}}
The color displayed at right is '''opera mauve'''.

The first recorded use of ''opera mauve'' as a color name in [[English language|English]] was in 1927.<ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Color Sample page 107 Plate 42 Color Sample H5--Opera Mauve</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Mauve taupe===
{{Infobox color
|title=Mauve taupe
|hex=915F6D
|source=[[ISCC-NBS]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-m.htm|title=Retsof online version of ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names - Ma through Mz|date=November 22, 2012|access-date=January 9, 2025|archive-date=November 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220715/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-m.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
|isccname=Grayish purplish red}}

{{main|Taupe}}

The color displayed at right is '''mauve taupe'''.

The first recorded use of ''mauve taupe'' as a color name in English was in 1925.<ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203; Color Sample of Mauve Taupe Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample C8--Mauve Taupe</ref>

{{Clear}}

===Old mauve===
{{Infobox color
|title=Old mauve
|hex=673147
|source=[[ISCC-NBS]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-o.htm|title=Retsof online version of ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names - Oa through Oz|date=August 22, 2017|access-date=January 9, 2025|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822082704/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-o.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
|isccname=Dark purplish red}}

The color displayed at right is '''old mauve'''.

The first recorded use of ''old mauve'' as a color name in English was in 1925.<ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Color Sample of Old Mauve: Page 109 Plate 46 Color Sample I5</ref>

The [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Color/Normalized Color Coordinates|normalized color coordinates]] for old mauve are identical to [[Wine (color)#Wine dregs|wine dregs]], which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1924.<ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 207; Color Sample of Wine Dregs Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample L7</ref>

==See also==
* [[Shades of purple]]
** [[Lilac (color)]]
* [[Malvaria#Pyroluria|Malvaria]] (Pyroluria), from the term ''mauve factor'' in [[Orthomolecular psychiatry]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Mauve}}

{{Shades of pink|Mauve}}
{{Shades of violet|Mauve}}
{{Shades of blue}}
{{Shades of gray}}
{{Shades of lilac}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shades of pink]]
[[Category:Shades of violet]]
[[Category:Purple]]