COLOUR NAMES
Whimsical names of colours have varied from the semi-legendary Elephant' Breath to the Immodest Violet announced this season. There are curious stories )out seme of them. One, very much in vogue between 1601 and 1604, was a dingy whitish yellow called i'lsabeau, or Isabella, which must have been very embarrassing to Isabella, daughter of Philip 11, after whom 't was called. Her husband, Archduke Albert, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, had been given the task of conquering provinces that had not submitted to Philip. Albert was unskilful, and suffered defeats which humiliated his proud wife. Finally the General. Spinola took charge of military operations, and in 160' commenced the siege of Ostend. Ashamed and ill-tempered, Isabella vowed that she would not change her linen until after Ostend had fallen. And that did not happen for three years. In the meantime the supposed colour of her linen became fashionable
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19381201.2.169.7
Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 23671, 1 December 1938, Page 20
Word Count
150COLOUR NAMES Otago Daily Times, Issue 23671, 1 December 1938, Page 20
Using This Item
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Daily Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in