Puce

Puce
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #722F37
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (114, 47, 55)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 59, 52, 55)
HSV       (h, s, v) (353°, 59%, 45[1]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Puce (variant spellings: "puse", "peuse" or "peuce") is a dark red or purple brown color,[2] a brownish purple[3][4] or a dark reddish brown.[5]

Etymology

Puce is the French word for flea. The color is said to be the color of the bloodstains remaining on linen or bedsheets, even after being laundered, from a flea's droppings or after a flea has been crushed.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) dates the first English use of "puce" as a color to 1787.[6] The name comes from the French word puce, or flea, which comes from the Latin words for flea, pulicem or pulex. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the first French use of puce as a color name, meaning "flea-color," dates to the 17th century.[7] A different source dates the first French use of puce as a color name to the 14th century.[8]

Puce green

Puce is also found in the phrase "puce green", which dates back to at least 1810, when green tea was described as being "puce green" in color.[9] This phrase is still found today in the UK and the US, where it means a rather unattractive "pea soup" color. Hypotheses that this usage is based on misappropriation or derivation from "puke green" or "pus green" are purely speculative.

History

The color puce became popular in the late 18th century in France. It was worn at the Court of Louis XVI, and was said to be a favorite color of Marie Antoinette, though there are no portraits of her wearing it.

Puce was also a popular fashion color in 19th century Paris. In one of his novels, Émile Zola described a woman "dressed in a gown of a dark color...between puce and the color of goose excrement (caca d'oie)."[10] Victor Hugo, in Les Misérables writes, '[...] Mademoiselle Baptistine gentle, slender, frail, somewhat taller than her brother, dressed in a gown of puce-colored silk, of the fashion of 1806, which she had purchased at that date in Paris, and which had lasted ever since.'[11]

Variations of puce

Puce (ISCC-NBS)

Puce (ISCC-NBS)
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #722F37
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (114, 47, 55)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 59, 52, 55)
HSV       (h, s, v) (353°, 59%, 45[1]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color to the right is the color called puce in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955). Since this color has a hue code of 353, it is a slightly purplish red.

The source of this color is: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Puce (color sample #16)

Puce (Maerz and Paul)

Puce (M&P)
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #A95C68
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (169, 92, 104)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 46, 39, 34)
HSV       (h, s, v) (351°, 46%, 66[12]%)
Source Maerz and Paul
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color box to the right shows the color called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color puce is displayed on page 37, Plate 7, Color Sample H4.

Puce (Pourpre color list)

Puce (Pourpre color list)
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #4E1609
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (78, 22, 9)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 72, 89, 69)
HSV       (h, s, v)

(11°, 89%, 31

[13]%)
Source Pourpre.com
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the color called puce in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in France. This is the original color "puce" from which all the other tones of puce are ultimately derived.

Puce (Pantone)

Puce (Pantone)
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #4F3A3C
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (79, 58, 60)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 27, 24, 69)
HSV       (h, s, v) (354°, 27%, 31[14]%)
Source Pantone TPX[15]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color at right is called puce in the Pantone color list.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #19-1518 TPX—Puce.[16]

In popular culture

Bottle collecting

Comics

Games

Film

History

Literature

Music

Television

University

Crayons

See also

References

  1. 1 2 web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #722F37 (Puce Red):
  2. Oxford English Dictionaries on-line
  3. Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition: "a brownish purple."
  4. Random House College Dictionary: "a dark or brownish purple"
  5. "Brun rouge assez foncé." Le Petit Robert (1988).
  6. Oxford English Dictionary See entry on Puce
  7. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, (1966) Oxford University Press
  8. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 202; Color Sample of Puce: Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample H4--the color sample shown as puce in Maerz & Paul is a tone of puce halfway between the U.S. and U.K. versions of puce: Puce (Maerz & Paul)
  9. Cadet, C. L. (September 1810). "On the Unwholesomeness of Tea". The Medical and Physical Journal XXIV (139): 189. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  10. "Vétue d'une robe sobre...entre le puce et le caca d'oie." Le Petit Robert.
  11. Wikisource:Les Misérables/Volume 1/Book Second/Chapter 2
  12. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #A95C68 (Deep Puce):
  13. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #4E1609 (French Puce):
  14. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #4F3A3C (Dark Puce):
  15. Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear.
  16. Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear:
  17. von Mechow, Tod (September 30, 2010). "Bottle Attributes  Beer Bottle Colors". Soda & Beer Bottles of North America. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  18. Adams, Scott (c). Dilbert. August 17, 1993. Official Dilbert comic strips Archive.
  19. "Topic: Puce". eNotes. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  20. Panarese, Tom (April 27, 2011). "Dance 'til Dawn". Pop Culture Affidavit. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  21. Beifuss, John (August 19, 2011). "'Fright Night' - A Review: Never Cross a Vampire". The Bloodshot Eye. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  22. Victoria Finlay, Color.
  23. Smith, Bret (December 25, 2008). "Paladin (Part 3C) – The Knights of the Round Table (con't)". The Grumblin' Grognard. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  24. Search result, Puce Knight: Sir Thomas Malory; Keith Baines (October 12, 2001). Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table : The Classic Rendition. Penguin. pp. 146, 147, 149, 152, 159. ISBN 978-0-451-52816-2. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  25. Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses, 2nd Edition, University of California Press, 1989, p. 22.
  26. http://www.andes.info.ec/en/news/we-cannot-continue-turning-our-backs-our-mother-earth-pope-francis-ecuador.html Pope Francis visited the campus of *Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, (PUCE) on the 7th of July during a trip to South America
  27. "Explore Colors." http://crayola.com/explore-colors. Web. 5 June 2015.
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