Russet (color)

Russet       Color coordinates Hex triplet #80461B sRGB^B  (r, g, b) (128, 70, 27) CMYK^H   (c, m, y, k) (0, 45, 79, 50) HSV       (h, s, v) (26°, 79%, 50[1]%) Source ISCC-NBS B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Russet as a tertiary color   orange   russet[2]   plum

Russet is a dark brown color with a reddish-orange tinge. As a tertiary color, russet is an equal mix of orange and purple pigments.^[3][4]

The first recorded use of russet as a color name in English was in 1562.^[5]

The source of this color is the The ISCC-NBS Method of Designating Colors and a Dictionary of Color Names (1955) used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps.^[6]

The name of the color derives from russet, a coarse cloth made of wool and dyed with woad and madder to give it a subdued grey or reddish-brown shade. By the statute of 1363, poor English people were required to wear russet.^[7]

Russet, a color of autumn, is often associated with sorrow or grave seriousness. Anticipating a lifetime of regret, Shakespeare's character Biron says in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 1: "Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express'd / In russet yeas and honest kersey noes."

The color is mentioned in a famous quote taken from a letter Oliver Cromwell wrote to Sir William Spring in September 1643: "I had rather have a plain, russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, [than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else]".^[8]

See also

• List of colors
• Russet apple
• Russet potato

References

1. web.Forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #80461B (Russet):
2. RGB approximations of RYB tertiary colors, using cubic interpolation. The colors displayed here are substantially paler than the true colors a mixture of paints would produce.
3. Miskella, William J. (2004) [1928]. Practical Color Simplified: A Handbook on Lacquering, Enameling, Coloring and Painting 1928. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9781417980512. pp. 20–21.
4. Lemos, John T. (June 1920). "Color Charts for the School Room". The School Arts Magazine (Worcester, Mass.: The Davis Press) 19 (10): 580–584.
5. Maerz and Paul (1930). A Dictionary of Color. New York: McGraw-Hill. page 203; Color Sample of Russet: Page 37 Plate 14 Color Sample I12.
6. See sample of the color Russet (Color Sample #55) displayed on indicated page: ISCC Color List Page R
7. R. H. Britnell (1986). Growth and decline in Colchester, 1300–1525. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–77. ISBN 978-0-521-30572-3.
8. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1970. p. 167. Cites Carlyle Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell.