Fast khakis and blues, for government requirements / Levinstein, Limited, Blackley, Manchester.

Manchester : Levinstein Limited, 1914?

1 sheet ; 23 x 17 cm

English

BAC: British Art Center copy with ink stamp: "Ex Libris JSR."

The sheet is hand-dated 1914 at bottom (in blue ink), but it is unclear if this annotation is contemporary.

"The ability of Levinstein Ltd. of Great Britain to furnish khaki dyes for governmental requirements is noteworthy. Within a week after the Belgium army adopted the color the firm supplied it with all of its dye requirements, and the same is true of the Italian, French, Australian and British armies, and within the first seven months of last year it exported sufficient wool khaki dyes to the United States to dye 5,000,000 yards of cloth."--Textile colorist, vol. 40 (1918), p. 13.

Sample card of khakis and blues "for government requirements" for World War I troops, manufactured by Levinstein Limited of Manchester, England. The card bears eight fabric samples: Khaki serge, Blue serge, Khaki mixture (1/2 pattern no. 6, 1/2 white wool), French grey (1/2 pattern no. 6, 1/2 white wool), Khaki slubbing, Blue slubbing, Kahki on cotton yarn, and Green slubbing. Beneath each sample, Levinstein provides information on the dyes; for example, khaki serge, includes: "1% Alliance Fast Green 2g paste; 0.4% Era Chrome Brown MW paste; top-chromed with 1% Bichrome."

January 21, 2016

BAC Eph Exhibited in: Art in Focus: Blue (Yale Center for British Art, April 5, 2019-August 11, 2019)