Blue Gold: The Lure of Indigo
10 April @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
How the “Devil’s colour” became “King of the Dyes”
Indigo dye, once banned in Western Europe, became the most prized of all the “spices”.
In the eighteenth century, plantations thrived in the West Indies and America, but when the wars with France and America threatened British imports, the HEIC allowed Europeans to grow indigo in India. By the 1830s, Bengal was producing four-fifths of the world’s indigo.
Through the eyes of three entrepreneurs, Marie-Louise Luxemburg will describe how indigo was grown and manufactured and how these resolute pioneers dealt with the natural and social challenges of their day.
Marie-Louise Luxemburg is a writer, historian and former BRLSI convenor for History & Culture. She has spoken frequently on literary and historical subjects.
Image: Detail of The Blue Boy, Thomas Gainsborough (1770). Courtesy of the Huntington Art Museum, San Marino, California
