Chrome Yellow/Orange

I think of chrome yellow as school bus yellow and chrome orange as cheddar cheese orange. A range in between these two extremes could be obtained by adjusting the alkalinity of the final solution. These yellows and oranges also look good with our Turkey reds! High drama!

And just how long have these cheery colors been around? Camille Koechlin of Mulhouse invented the first chrome fabric dyes in 1819. Chromium had previous been used a a colorant for carriage painting (can you imagine a chrome yellow carriage? - wow!). John Mercer of Great Britain, produced a chrome yellow around 1823 and by adding an final alkali rinse, he had a chrome orange.

A variation of chrome yellow/orange dying was the popular "California golds". These came into vogue around the time of the California gold rush. These popular prints were a yellow/orange print on a white ground and could vary in coloration from lemon to butterscotch gold.