Recognise these Victorian paint colours?

[Maurice]

Hello everyone

I own a Victorian cotton spinning Mill (1823) in Salford. I'm trying to figure out what some of the original or early interior paint colours may have been. I've attached some images of painted brickwork and cast iron columns. There is a pale blue and also a fern greenish colour that appears under other layers of paint throughout the building. I wonder if these may have been typical colours for a building of this type and age? Please do let me know if you recognise any of these colours or know where I might find more info on this? Many thanks!
Maurice

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Have a look at Rose of Jericho, they specialise in historic paint finishes. Their colour chart has a very similar shade to the first picture.

www.rose-of-jericho.demon.co.uk

Good Luck and enjoy your discovery!

 

[Maurice]

Thanks Jocelyn!

 

[steveb]

(not helpful but)

that middle one is clearly "karma purple"

 

[kreyszig]

I'm being a pedant, but isn't your mill actually Georgian?

 

[wobs]

(not helpful but)

that middle one is clearly "karma purple"

There's probably more lead and/or other nasties in the OP pictures, than in your picture.

 

[Me!]

I have some traces of exactly the same colour as your third one, on an old (about 1580) window opening.
The previous owner of the house told me it was wode.
But, ... she told me a lot of other things about the house as well, many of which I know to be wrong!

 

[livias]

The first looks like red ochre which is dug out of the ground so its use goes back much further . It became widely used when the industrial revolution improved transportation and grinding mills. The blue was invented in um 1820 ( that date was a bit of a guess) and rapidly became VERY popular. Before that date blue had been an expensive colour now it was cheap everyone wanted it
the green I am less sure about but I do know that there was a pigment with some poisonous heavy metal i(chromium?) n it so be careful to mask up. Come to think of it there is likely to be lead in any of the paints

 

[Me!]

Arsenic green in its various forms such as Scheele's green and Paris green are certainly ones to be aware of.
They are thought to be a contributory factor towards Napoleon's death.

Does anyone know the name of the 1820ish blue please?

And finally, the Roussillon ochre cliffs in the south of France are well worth a visit if you are in the area, ... and they make very nice red wine around there as well

 

[livias]

the blue = ultramarine, synthetic laiz lazuli