Burgundian Black

Burgundian Black is an interdisciplinary research project combining the expertise of contemporary artist Claudy Jongstra and academic research group ERC Artechne to investigate and reimagine pre-modern colour-making technologies.

The research focuses on black textile dyes made from natural colourants in the Burgundian-Habsburg dominions (c.1364-1580s). The deep and lustrous black tones that master dyers attained in this period were unprecedented in northern Europe, as was the rising demand for luxury black clothing – captured in portraits of nobility and urban patriciates by Flemish master painters.

While very few black-dyed textiles from the Burgundian period have survived, this project traces the colour through centuries-old recipe books, manuscripts, and archival records that detail the multi-sensory processes behind its making. The materials and techniques in these historical recipes were common knowledge for master dyers of the pre-modern period, but were largely lost with the rise of synthetic colour industries.

The team at Studio Claudy Jongstra contributed the tacit knowledge of natural materials and of plant-based dye processes, necessary to conduct this research — interpreting and recreating centuries-old Burgundian black recipes.

The Burgundian Black research, coordinated by Dr. Jenny Boulboullé, was done in collaboration with the Department of Heritage at the University of Antwerp and the Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE) Research Laboratory.