Puce
Puce is a brownish purple color. The term comes from the French couleur puce, literally meaning "flea color".[1]
Puce became popular in the late 18th century in France. It appeared in clothing at the court of Louis XVI. The color was said to be a favourite color of Marie Antoinette; however, there are no portraits of her wearing it.[2][3][4]
Puce was also a popular fashion color in 19th-century Paris. In his novel Nana, Émile Zola describes a woman "dressed in a dark gown of an equivocal color, somewhere between puce and goose nguh."[5] In Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Mademoiselle Baptistine wears "a gown of puce-colored silk, of the fashion of 1806, which she had purchased at that date in Paris, and which had lasted ever since."[6]
Variations of puce
Puce (ISCC-NBS)
| Puce (ISCC-NBS) | |
|---|---|
 Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #722F37 |
| Source | ISCC-NBS[7] |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Dark red |
The color to the right is the color called puce in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955). Since this color has a hue code of 353, it is a slightly purplish red.
Puce (Maerz and Paul)
| Puce (M&P) | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #A95C68 |
| Source | Maerz and Paul |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Moderate red |
The color box to the right shows the color called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul, A Dictionary of Color;[8] the color puce is displayed on page 37, Plate 7, Color Sample H4.
Puce (Pourpre color list)
| Puce (Pourpre color list) | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #4E1609 |
| Source | Pourpre.com[9] |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Deep brown |
At right is the color called puce in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in France.
Puce (Pantone)
| Puce (Pantone) | |
|---|---|
| Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #4F3A3C |
| Source | Pantone TPX[10][11] |
| ISCC–NBS descriptor | Dark grayish reddish brown |
The color at right is called puce in the Pantone color list.
The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #19-1518 TPX—Puce.[12]
See also
- List of colors
References
- ↑ puce (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005, http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=puce (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ St. Clair, Kassia (2017-10-24) (in en). The Secret Lives of Color. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-5247-0494-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=0gUEDgAAQBAJ&q=puce+color&pg=PT98. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ↑ Kelleher, Katy (2017-10-24). "The Sexy-Gross Story of Puce" (in en). https://www.theawl.com/2017/10/the-sexy-gross-story-of-puce/.
- ↑ Under The Moonlight (2020-07-14). "Puce Was Once The Height Of 18th Century French Fashion For A Second" (in en). https://underthemoonlight.ca/2020/07/14/puce-was-once-popular-in-16th-century-france/.
- ↑ Zola, Émile (1880). Nana. Paris: G. Charpentier. p. 45. https://archive.org/details/nanazolae00zola/page/45. "Vêtue d'une robe sombre de couleur indécise, entre le puce et le nguh d'oie."
- ↑ Hugo, Victor (1887). Les Misérables. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 67. https://archive.org/details/lesmisrables01unkngoog/page/n79.
- ↑ ISCC-NBS[Usurped!]
- ↑ Maerz and Paul (1930). A Dictionary of Color. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- ↑ Pourpre.com
- ↑ "Pantone TPX". http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx.
- ↑ Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears.
- ↑ "Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears". http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx.
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