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Mauve as we think of it today is the colour of the aniline dye mauveine, which was developed by the chemist William Perkin as a by-product of his attempt to synthesise quinine from coal tar. But before that there was a colour called French purple in English (and mauve in French, after the French word for mallow) which was a natural extract from lichens and was colour-fast. The use of the name mauve for the aniline dye seems to have been a result of its association with high Parisian fashion; and the use of the aniline dye spread quickly because dyeing firms could use it to bypass the patents on the natural dye. More Mammon than mysticism; but it may be that purple (rather than the specific shade called mauve) has a different significance (perhaps as a result of the expense of producing it).
Some symbolic attributes of purple (from Brewer's):
Justice, royalty (probably from the use of Tyrian purple in the robes of the Roman nobility and Senate etc, I'd guess)
In heraldry, where it is known as purpure: temperance
In art: denotes royalty
In ecclesiastical decoration: Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday
In metals: represented by quicksilver
Precious stones: represented by amethyst
Planets: represents Mercury |
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