The mauve measles: when purple went viral

A teenage chemist’s accidental discovery didn’t just revolutionise colour history – it sparked a viral Victorian colour craze!

Cultural historian Kassia St Clair joins Beks to uncover the story of mauveine – the world’s first synthetic aniline dye. Practically overnight, this striking purple became a mass-market sensation. Mauve reshaped Victorian fashion and left a legacy that stretches all the way from a laboratory in Victorian London’s East End to portraits of icons like Oprah Winfrey.

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Kassia is the author of books including 'The Secret Lives of Colour', 'The Golden Thread' and 'Liberty: Design. Pattern. Colour'. She specialises in telling stories about the overlooked and everyday.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddv3yLM6VeQ

You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk

Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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Paintings mentioned:

Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, ‘Sir William Henry Perkin’, 1906. © National Portrait Gallery, London https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04955/Sir-William-Henry-Perkin?_gl=1*n8r8uw*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDE2MjgwNzAxLjE3NzgwNzkyNDc.*_ga_3D53N72CHJ*czE3NzgwNzkyNDYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzgwNzkyNDYkajYwJGwwJGgw

John Phillip, ‘The Marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal, 25 January 1858’, Signed and dated 1860 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust https://www.rct.uk/collection/406819/the-marriage-of-victoria-princess-royal-25-january-1858

Claude Monet, ‘Irises’, About 1914-17 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-irises

Shawn Michael Warren, ‘Oprah Winfrey’, 2023 © National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / Courtesy of the artist https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2023.37?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Fedan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Doprah

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Further reading:

Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’, 2016 [Book]

Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour: Expanded Edition’, 2025 [Book]

Simon Garfield, ‘Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World’, 2000 [Book]

Find out more about William Henry Perkin here: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp37617/william-henry-perkin

Perkin, W. H. ‘On Mauve or Aniline-Purple'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 13 (1863-1864): 170-176. [Journal article] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspl.1863.0042

Science Museum, ‘The secret origins of purple dye’, 2019 [YouTube video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JCMxq7DU8

Find out more about ‘The Mauve Measles’ in Punch Magazine, 20 Aug 1859: https://magazine.punch.co.uk/image/I0000tqpCmhDDsLU

Oscar Wilde, ‘The Decay of Lying’, 1891 [Book]

Oscar Wilde, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, 1890 [Book]

Explore 'Monet's Palette in the Twentieth Century: 'Water-Lilies' and 'Irises'’ in the National Gallery's Technical Bulletin, 2007: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/roy2007

Find out more about artist Shawn Michael Warren: https://www.shawnmichaelwarren.com/

Find out more about Oprah Winfrey and the colour purple: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/oprah-winfrey-national-portrait-gallery-shawn-michael-warren-commission-180983424/

Watch or listen to our episode of ‘Stories of Colour’ on Tyrian purple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcPMFsafav8

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Episode credits:

Guest: Kassia St Clair

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Ian Warren and Timothy Carpenter

Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti

Editor: Paul Frankl

Theme music: Theo Elwell