Paints for 17th Century Colors

[Terry37]

I am working on a Nine Years War army and am curious what color and paints (name and brand) others use for these uniform/facing colors?

Feuille Morte
Muscus
Isabella

I have colors in mind and realize that no one color is absolute.

Thanks,

Terry

[Terry37]

I am surprised no one has commented on this. Surely some of you have created battalions with these facing colors. I wanted to hold my thoughts pending what others might think, but if it might help, here's how I see them.

Feuille Morte - translates as "Dead Leaf", so think of the leaves in late autumn - rich yellows, tannish browns, and reddish orange toward the brown scale. This being the case I see four possible colors, each different while at the same time being an accurate color for Feuille Morte.

1. Gold Yellow - This is available from several makers, and is a very deep and rich color.
2. Yellow Ochre - this is a more tannish yellow.
3. Spice Brown - which is a darker shade of yellow ochre.
4. Burnt orange - the deepest and reddest shade.

I have seen art work with 1 or 2 used for Danish troops in the NYW,. Mark Allen shows 4 for the Irish Regiments at the Boyne. And the Osprey book on the army of Louis XIV shows a regimental coat in 3 with dark blue facings.

So for this color I can see using any of the four colors. Definitions of the color also give a spread of shades as 1 thru 4.

Muscus is  a bit tough because when you try to Google a definition it wants to give you a snot green color of mucus - YUK! In the Danish art it is shown as a fairly dark brown, with a reddish hint to it, sort of like a brown red oxide color.

The last one, Isabella, is supposedly derived from the vest worn by Queen Isabella that she did not change for a month, and is usually described as a dirty white with a yellowish-brownish hue to it. Mark Allen shows it as more of a buttercream yellow. I have also seen it referred to as a yellowish buff, keeping in mind that buff in the 17th century was often described flesh color, so more toward a pinkish/tannish shade than Isabella.

OK, anyone have any thoughts or want to share what they've used?

Terry

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

Feuille Morte - translates as "Dead Leaf", so think of the leaves in late autumn - rich yellows, tannish browns, and reddish orange toward the brown scale. This being the case I see four possible colors, each different while at the same time being an accurate color for Feuille Morte.

1. Gold Yellow - This is available from several makers, and is a very deep and rich color.
2. Yellow Ochre - this is a more tannish yellow.
3. Spice Brown - which is a darker shade of yellow ochre.
4. Burnt orange - the deepest and reddest shade.

Good answers.  Nothing much to add beyond mentioning that Feuille Morte transferred into English as "Philamot(t)"; I forget now which of the British infantry regiments later adopted this as their facing colour - possibly the 24th Foot?

[tom_aargau]

Here a link to a clolour sheet for Feuille Morte...a wide range of colours as mentioned above.



Muscus translates into English as "Musk" and would be a dark brown colour again as mentioned above.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[Patrice]

Feuille-morte would be a brownish-red I think, or somewhat darky yellow...

I know it's bad taste to quote Wiki, but:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feuille-morte_(couleur)
https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/feuille-morte

However as usual there may be differences depending on historical periods and fashions which may have had a slightly different meaning.

[Terry37]

We all seem to be in agreement.

Baron, yes, he English color equivalent for the yellowish shade is Philmont Yellow. My one color chip for it shows it to be a slightly darker yellow ochre.

Terry

[Littlearmies]

Good answers.  Nothing much to add beyond mentioning that Feuille Morte transferred into English as "Philamot(t)"; I forget now which of the British infantry regiments later adopted this as their facing colour - possibly the 24th Foot?

According to my Franklin it was the 13th (or 1st Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot that wore the yellow - the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) wore dark green (willow green) facings of a similar colour to French dragoon jackets.

[carlos marighela]

Isabelle is a mid brown if the following is to be believed:

https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ca-16-fr.html

Which makes sense to me. My daughter is an Isabella and in summer she’s definitely a mid brown, bordering on dark.   

The 17th C Carignan-Salières Regiment that was sent to Canada is particularly well documented and the ribbons worn by the officers in their hats and shoulders is described as being of feuille morte or brown.

“ Les officiers reçoivent aussi des rubans noirs et feuille- morte (bruns) pour garnir chapeau, épaule et haut-de chausse.”

https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cd/2015-n122-cd02141/79287ac.pdf

That said, modern depictions show the ribbons contrasting with the brown coats worn by the regiment.

See here:

https://www.tfcg.ca/carignan-salieres-regiment