I happen to know that this is a marine snail, but I could not quite believe that my pigments were actually this most mythical of dyes. Initially, one produced a deep blue, the other a deep ox-blood. Two of them are sparkly, crystalline green pigments. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I clad in Tyrian purple, 6th-century mosaic at Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

In a souk in Morocco, my friend must have poured over piles of pigments that look nothing like the colour they produce, and the handwritten stickers are in french, and of little use. A metal hamsa, and pigments in twisted plastic wrapped in Arabic newspaper. What is it? What snails? Is it mauve? Lilac? Aubergine? Is it Bordeaux, is it blue, indigo? Amethyst? Is it plum? Purple?ġ2 years ago, a friend from Australia came to visit, via Peru and Morocco, bearing gifts. You think purple is for hippies? Think again.Ĭolours are full of mystery, and perhaps no other more than Tyrian purple. You just have to mentally remove the idea that the green stuff is snail :) Why one of the pigments had the label “murix”, I can only guess it refers to the colour, not the creature. I will leave this post as it is, though, as the story of Tyrian purple is fascinating anyway. Hours of research threw up Gentian violet. And though this is far, far less interesting, it has the benefit of being true. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. CORRECTION: the green powder is not from the sea snail.

Download tyrian purple snail