Mauve

Mauve (mallow)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#E0B0FF
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(224, 176, 255)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(12, 31, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(276°, 31%, 100[1]%)
Source	Maerz and Paul[2]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Mallow wildflower

Mauve (ⁱ/ˈmoʊv/, mohv^[3]) is a pale purple color^[4][5] named after the mallow flower (French: mauve). The first use of the word mauve as a color was in 1796–98 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. Another name for the color is mallow,^[6] with the first recorded use of mallow as a color name in English in 1611.^[7]

Mauve contains more grey and more blue than a pale tint of magenta. Many pale wildflowers called "blue" are actually mauve. Mauve is also sometimes described as pale violet.

Mauveine, the first aniline dye

The synthetic dye mauve was first so named in 1859. Chemist William Henry Perkin, then eighteen, was attempting to create artificial quinine in 1856.^[8] An unexpected residue caught his eye, which turned out to be the first aniline dye – specifically, Perkin's mauve or mauveine, sometimes called aniline purple, but this new dye was originally called Tyrian Purple and was only called mauve after it was marketed in 1859.^[9] Earlier references to a mauve dye in 1856–58 referred to a color produced using the semi-synthetic dye murexide or a mixture of natural dyes.^[10] Perkin was so successful in marketing his discovery to the dye industry that his biography by Simon Garfield is simply entitled Mauve.^[11] However, as it faded easily, the success of mauve dye was short-lived and it was replaced by other synthetic dyes by 1873.^[12] As the memory of the original dye soon receded, the contemporary understanding of mauve is as a lighter, less-saturated color than it was originally known.^[13]

The 1890s are sometimes referred to in retrospect as the "Mauve Decade", because of the characteristic popularity of the subtle color among progressive "artistic" types, both in Europe and the US.^[14]

Variations

Rich mauve

Mauve (Crayola C.P.)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#E285FF
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(226, 133, 255)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(11, 48, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(286°, 48%, 100[15]%)
Source	Crayola C.P.
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the rich tone of mauve that is called mauve in Crayola colored pencils.

French mauve (deep mauve)

Mauve (Pourpre.com)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#D473D4
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(212, 115, 212)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(0, 46, 0, 17)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(300°, 46%, 83[16]%)
Source	Pourpre.com
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the deep tone of mauve that is called mauve in Pourpre.com, a color list widely popular in France.

Opera mauve

Opera mauve
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#B784A7
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(183, 132, 167)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(12, 27, 0, 2)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(276°, 20%, 62%)
Source	ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the color opera mauve.

The first recorded use of opera mauve as a color name in English was in 1927.^[17]

Mauve taupe

Mauve taupe
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#915F6D
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(145, 95, 109)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(0, 34, 25, 43)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(285°, 37%, 54%)
Source	ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color displayed at right is mauve taupe.

The first recorded use of mauve taupe as a color name in English was in 1925.^[18]

See the article on taupe to see additional shades of taupe.

Old mauve

Old mauve
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#673147
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(103, 49, 71)
CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k)	(0, 52, 31, 60)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(336°, 52%, 40[19]%)
Source	ISCC NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the color old mauve.

The first recorded use of old mauve as a color name in English was in 1925.^[20]

The source of this color is the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)—a color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps.^[21]

In nature

The mauve stinger is a jellyfish that is widely distributed in all warm and temperate waters of the world's oceans.

In culture

Theatre

Mauve is a commonly used color in stage lighting to represent sunsets.

See also

• List of colors
• Malvaria (Pyroluria), from the term mauve factor in Orthomolecular psychiatry

References

1. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #E0B0FF (Mauve):
2. The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called mauve in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill; the color "mallow" is displayed on page 125, Plate 51, Color Sample I3 Note: It is stated in A Dictionary of Color that mallow and mauve are two different names used in English to refer to exactly the same color—the name mallow came into use in 1611 and mauve came into use as its synonym in 1856—see under the entry for each name on page 198 in the Index. See also discussion of the color Mallow (Mauve) on page 166.
3. Brians, Paul. "Mauve". Common Errors in English. Washington State University. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
4. Oxford English Dictionaries on-line
5. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition (1964): "any of several shades of delicate purple."
6. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 198
7. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 198; Color Sample of Mallow: page 125 Plate 51 Color Sample I3
8. Jubilee of the discovery of mauve and of the foundation of the coal-tar colour industry by Sir W. H. Perkin (1906) - digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
9. Travis, Anthony S. (1993). The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe. Bethlehem: Lehigh Univ. Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0934223188.
10. Travis, Anthony S. (1993). The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe. Bethlehem: Lehigh Univ. Press. pp. 45–6. ISBN 978-0934223188.
11. Garfield, S. (2000). Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World. Faber and Faber, London, UK. ISBN 978-0-571-20197-6.
12. Travis, Anthony S. (1993). The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe. Bethlehem: Lehigh Univ. Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0934223188.
13. History of Dyes from 2600 BC to 20th Century - natural dyes, synthetic, by Susan C. Druding, 1982
14. Thomas Beer, The Mauve Decade: American Life at the End of the Nineteeth Century, 1926.
15. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #E285FF (Rich Mauve):
16. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #D473D4 (French Mauve)(Deep Mauve):
17. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Color Sample page 107 Plate 42 Color Sample H5--Opera Mauve
18. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203; Color Sample of Mauve Taupe Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample C8--Mauve Taupe
19. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #673147 (Old Mauve):
20. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Color Sample of Old Mauve: Page 109 Plate 46 Color Sample I5
21. See sample of the color Old Mauve (Color Sample #259) displayed on indicated page