1303 Puce (article)

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Cecil Munsey, PhD
13541 Willow Run Road
Poway, CA 92064-1733 USA
Phone: Phone: 1-858-487-7036
E–Mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.cecilmunsey.com
Website Article: No. 1303
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August 2013
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Open
Open
History
PUCE
(Arguably the most desirable color
in Glass Bottle Collecting.)
Fig. 1
Researched, illuminated, and presented
by
Cecil Munsey, PhD
Academic / Cultural Historian
Copyright © 2013
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Etymology
The color PUCE (often misspelled as “puse,” “peuse, or “peuce”). It is defined in
the United States as a brownish-purple. In the United Kingdom the color puce is defined
as purple brown or dark red. In France, where it was invented, puce is described as a
rather dark reddish brown.
Etymology (the origin of a word and the
historical development of its meaning) –
Puce is the French word for flea (Fig. 2).
The color is said to be the color of the
bloodstains remaining on linen or bed-sheets,
even after being laundered, from flea’s
droppings or after the flea has been killed.
(Fig. 2) Flea
The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first English use of “puce” as a color
to 1787. The name comes (as stated above) fromª the French word puce, or flea, which
comes from the Latin word for flea, pulicem or pulex. According to the Oxford
Dictionary of English Etymology, the first French use of puce as a color name, meaning
“flea-color” dates to the 17th century. A different source dates the first French use of puce
as a color name to the 14th century three hundred years earlier.
History
The color puce became popular in
the late 18th century in France. It was
worn at the Court of Louis XVI, and was a
favorite color of Marie Antoinette (Fig. 3),
though there are no portraits of her
wearing it.
(Fig. 3) Marie Antoinette c. 1783
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Puce was also a popular fashion color in 19th century Paris. In one of his novels,
Emile Zola described a woman “dressed in a gown of a dark color…between puce and the
color of goose excrement (caca d’oie).”
It is still popular today as evidenced in a photograph
from the popular CBS television show, The Good Wife with
its star Julianna Marguiles wearing a puce-colored dress
(Fig. 4).
Variations of puce
As in most descriptions of glass bottle colors, there
are variations that are great in range. The color called puce
(Fig. 4) TV star Julianna
Margiles in puce dress
is certainly no exception. The following are the most popular
of the descriptions:
• Deep puce – is the color that is called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul,
“A Dictionary of Color”.
• Puce red – is the color puce that is called so because it is a slightly purple red in 1955
dictionary “ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names”.
• French puce – is called puce in “Poupre.com color list” widely popular in France.
• Dark puce – The source of this color is the “Pantone Textile Paper extended (TPX)”
color list, color #19-1518 TPX–Puce.
“Puce Inks” (Meyer Collection)
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Puce in popular culture
As the subtitle of this article indicates…
“…in the bottle collecting hobby, ‘puce’ is
arguably the most desirable bottle color.” And of
all of the different bottles made in puce, the most
desirable of them is the 1860-1880 Royal Italian
Bitters (Fig. 5) embossed with a motif of a
crown, shield, spears and drapery. As can easily
be seen in the cited photographic illustration, it is
tall (13 ¾”) and cylindrical in shape – a hock wine
bottle with a smooth base and no pontil scar.
The much desired puce bitters bottle was
created by Chevalier [a knight] Angelo M. F.
Gianelli (Fig. 6) of Toronto, Canada; an
immigrant who was born in Genoa, Italy on
Dec. 2, 1832. He was a graduate of the National
College of Genoa. He entered the Sardinian
army in 1852 and in 1854 volunteered for the first
contingent to the Crimean War, as an ensign. He
received a discharge two years later in March
1856.
In 1859 a new 100-room luxury hotel
named the COSMOPOLITAN opened in Montreal
by S. Compain (Fig. 7). By 1868, Compain, the
proprietor had met Angelo Gianelli and rented
him space connected to his new hotel. The
restaurant was to be named the “LUNCHEON
HALL” (Figs. 8 & 9).
(Fig. 5) Puce Royal Italian Bitters
(Heckler photo)
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(Fig. 7) Cosmopolitan Hotel,
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(Fig. 6) Angelo M. F. Gianelli portrait
Place D'Armes, Montreal
(Fig. 9) Gianelli 1860 Bill of Fare for
(Fig. 8) Cosmopolitan Hotel Luncheon menu
The Cosmopolitan
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In 1868 Gianelli opened [“a spacious and handsomely appointed luncheon hall
capable of receiving, with comfort, 200 persons”] in the COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL at
12 Place D’Armes, Montreal. The hotel was established in 1859. [Here is an
advertisement for the hotel from June of 1860 (Fig. 10).]
(Fig. 10) Cosmopolitan Hotel (advertisement)
(Fig. 11) A, M. F. Gianelli portrait
In 1870 Gianelli was appointed consul for Italy for Quebec Province. In 1874 he
was granted a second commission as the new exequatur (agent), giving him the
jurisdiction of the consulate of the district of Bonaventure, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, and in 1877,he received a third Royal commission, giving him jurisdiction over
Canada and Newfoundland, with the power to establish vice-consulates where necessary.
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Gianelli (Fig. 11) was a liberal contributor to the Bolletino Consolare, a monthly
periodical published in Rome, and always did all in his power to establish trade relations
between Canada and Italy.
He founded the firm of Gianelli & Co.,
shipping agents and commission merchants,
who shipped to Italy the first cargo of Canadian
sawn pine, the first of many. According to an
advertisement from The Morning Chronicle, of
Halifax, Nova Scotia [Aug. 31, 1868] for Royal
Italian Bitters or “Tonico Reale” as it was also
known in Italian (Fig. 12) as the “Salabrious
and Agreeable TONIC ever introduced to
public notice, either in Europe or America.”
It was a … “Celebrated Preparation, for which a
Certificate of Merit was awarded to the original
preparer [not Gianelli] at the National
Exposition at Torino, Italy; by whose favor Mr.
Gianelli obtained the Recipe and was also
awarded a diploma at the Provincial Exhibition
of Canada, held in Montreal in September,
1865…prepared an sold wholesale [in puce
colored bottles] by the Proprietor, A.M.F.
Gianelli, 22 Hospital Street, Montreal.”
(Fig. 12) Bitters avertisement (1868) for
Gianelli's Royal Italian Bitters
In 1875, he was appointed Agent
General and Executive Commissioner for the
Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, where his administration proved a great success. At
the close of the exhibition he received the compliments and thanks of Baron Blanc and the
Italian Government, and, as a testimonial of appreciation of his services and administrative
ability, was presented by the exhibitors and employees with an elaborate address and
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souvenir in the shape of a medal. He also received a magnificent medal from the
American Administration.
In 1885 Angelo Gianelli, moved to Toronto, and finding his time so taken up by
commercial pursuits, submitted his resignation to the Italian Government. It was accepted
with many regrets.
On that occasion His Majesty KIng Umberto I (Fig. 13), of Italy, desirous of giving
Ganelli an attestation of the appreciation of his services, conferred upon him the order of
Knight of the Crown of Italy (Fig. 14), and named him his honorary consul for life.
(Fig. 13) King Umberto I of Italy
(Fig. 14) Knight of the Crown of Italy
Medal
A selection of carefully chosen puce bottles
(Fig. 15) Dr. J. Hostetter’s
Stomach Bitters
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(Fig. 16) Carey’s Grecian Bend Bitters bottle
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(Fig. 17) Greeley's Bourbon Bitters
barrel-shaped bottle
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(Fig. 18) Handled glass flask
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(Fig. 19) Generic puce umbrella ink bottle
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(Fig. 20) Dr. Tebbetts
Physiological Hair Regenerator
(Fig. 21) Generic
prescription-shape puce
hair restorer
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(Fig. 22) Generic
cylindrical puce bottle
SYNOPSIS
As is well known and accepted, in collecting old glass bottles, agreement on the
names of glass colors is not universal and is in fact most arbitrary. The color puce is no
exception.
Using one of the most accepted systems for naming puce glass tones by name is
the Additive primary color model (Fig. 23). The RGB color model is an additive color
model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce
a broad array of colors, including
white.
The main purpose of the
RGB color model is for the sensing,
representation, and display of
images in electronic systems, Such
as television and computers, though
it has used in conventional
photography. Before the electronic
age, RGB color model already had
a solid theory behind it, based in
human perception of colors.
Using the RGB color model
Fig. 24 shows the tones of puce in
(Fig. 23) Additive primary colors
a comparison chart. For the
purposes of this article the reader only needs to note the wide variety of names for puce
and note the various shades in the background of the chart.
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Tones of puce color comparison chart
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Light Lavender Blush (Lavender Blush Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #FFF9FB) (RGB: 255, 245, 251)
Lavender Blush (web color) (Hex: #FFF0F5) (RGB: 255, 240, 245)
Light Melanie (Melanie Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #F4E5ED) (RGB: 244, 229, 237)
Light Kobi (Kobi Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #F5D3E6) (RGB: 245, 211, 230)
Light Can Can (Can Can Light (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #EBCBD6) (RGB: 237, 203, 214)
Light Pale Red-Violet (Xona.com color list "Pale Violet-Red Light") (Hex: #F0B7CD) (RGB: 240, 183, 205)
Light Puce (Puce Pink) (Hex: #FFAFC8) (RGB: 255, 175, 200)
Light Cabaret (Cabaret Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #EF9BB9) (RGB: 239, 155, 185)
Light Red-Violet (Xona.com color list "Violet-Red Medium Light") (Hex: #E79EC5) (RGB: 231, 94, 197)
Kobi (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #C79FC4) (RGB: 231, 159, 196)
Light Blush (Blush Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #DE98B2) (RGB: 222, 152, 178)
Light Night Shadz (Night Shadz Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #D98AA8) (RGB: 217, 138, 168)
Light Rouge (Rouge Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #D58EB5) (RGB: 213, 142, 181)
Pale Persian Lilac (Ridgway) (Hex: #D597AE) (RGB: 213, 151, 174)
Can Can (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #D591A4) (RGB: 213, 145, 164)
PUCE (www.99colors.net) (Hex: #CC8899) (RGB: 204, 136, 153)
Persian Lilac (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #C17E91) (RGB: 193, 126, 145)
Turkish Rose (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #B57281) (RGB: 181, 114, 129)
Rose Gold (Hex: #B76E79) (RGB: 183, 110, 121)
English Lavender (Pantone TPX 17-3617) (Hex: #B48395) (RGB: 180, 131, 149)
Light Cosmic (Cosmic Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #BB8CAA) (RGB: 187, 140, 170)
Lavender Brown (Medium Vanda) (Plochere "Vanda") (Plochere) (Hex: #AA8A9E) (RGB: 170, 138, 158)
Pharlap (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #A3807B) (RGB: 163, 128, 123)
Bazaar (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #98777B) (RGB: 152, 119, 123)
Rose Dust (Crayola Silver Swirls) (Hex: #9E5E6F) (RGB: 158, 94, 111)
Mallow Purple (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #A8516E) (RGB: 168, 81, 110)
Deep Puce (Puce (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #A95C68) (RGB: 169, 92, 104)
Puce Orange (Hex: #D66F6C) (RGB: 214, 111, 108)
Dingy Dungeon (Crayola Silly Scents) (Hex: #C53151) (RGB: 197, 49, 81)
Light Black Rose (Black Rose Light (Xona.com Color List)) (Hex: #B12B7F) (RGB: 177, 43, 127)
Strong Red-Purple (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #9A366B) (RGB: 154, 54, 107)
Vietnamese Mauve (Hex: #993366) (RGB: 153, 51, 102)
Red-Violet Eggplant (Hex: #990066) (RGB: 153, 0, 102)
Twilight Lavender (Crayola Silver Swirls) (Hex: #8A496B) (RGB: 138, 73, 107)
Light Bulgarian Rose (Bulgarian Rose Light (Xona.com color list)) (Hex: #9A393D) (RGB: 154, 57, 61)
Cordovan (Pantone color planner) (Hex: #893F45) (RGB: 137, 63, 69)
Copper Rose (Hex: #996666) (RGB: 149, 102, 102)
Dark Chestnut (PerBang.dk) (Hex: #986960) (RGB: 152, 105, 96)
Rose Taupe (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #905D5D) (RGB: 144, 93, 93)
Mauve Taupe (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #915F6D) (RGB: 145, 95, 109)
Medium Puce (Hex: #8E616A) (RGB: 142, 97, 106)
Galaxy (Resene color list) (Hex: #755258) (RGB: 117, 77, 82)
Cosmic (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #763950) (RGB: 118, 57, 93)
Puce Red (Puce (ISCC-NBS)) (Hex: #722F37) (RGB: 114, 47, 55)
Internet Puce (color of the puce website www.puce.com) (Hex: #681C23) (RGB: 104, 28, 35)
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Black Rose (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #67032D) (RGB: 103, 3, 45)
Bottle Puce (Hex: #631800) (RGB: 99, 24, 0)
Rose Ebony (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #674846) (RGB: 103, 76, 71)
Deep Tuscan Red (Tuscan Red (www.99colors.net)) (Hex: #6642D) (RGB: 102, 66, 77)
Dark Liver (Hex: #534B4F) (RGB: 83, 75, 79)
Purple Taupe (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #504040) (RGB: 80, 64, 77)
Dark Puce (Puce Pantone TPX 19-1518) (Hex: #4F3A3C) (RGB: 79, 58, 60)
French Puce (Puce (Pourpre.com)) (Hex: #4E1609) (RGB: 78, 22, 9)
Bulgarian Rose (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #480607) (RGB: 72, 6, 7)
(Fig. 24) Tones of Puce Color Comparison Chart
Insulators Color Gallery (Fig. 25). Puce shows as burgundy (Burg) in this category of glass.
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(Fig. 25) All Insulators Color Gallery
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Bibliography
BOOKS:
Webster’s New World Dictionary for the American Language, College Edition,,
(1964).
Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Universiey
Maerz and Paul. A Dictionary of Color, McGraw-Hill, page 202,: Page 37, Plate 7
Color Sample of Puce: (New York, 1930.)
Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guide to The Collectibles of Coca-Cola: (New
York, Hawthorn Books Inc., 1972.)
Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guide to Collecting Bottles: (New York, Hawthorn
Books Inc., 1970.)
Munsey, Cecil & Allan Petretti. Official Coca-Cola Price Guide: (Nostalgia
Publishing Company, Hackensack, New Jersey, 1978.)
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford University Press
Von Mechow, Tod. “RGB Bottle Attributes – Beer Bottle Colors” (2010).
INTERNET:
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puce
http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiwki/Puce
http://medicaments.bouteillesduquebec.ca/publicites/giantelli_royal_i
http://www.peachridgeglass.com/2013/05/rooyal-italian-bitters-byhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model
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WEBSITE CONTACT INFORMATION
http://www.CecilMunsey.com
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More than 1,000 free-to-copy well-researched articles
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13541 Willow Run Road
Poway, CA 92064-1733
Phone: 858-487-7036
E-mail: [email protected]
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