Written by Hairong Long 2022 Cohort
Roedde family moved to Vancouver in 1888, with the famous architect Francis Rattenbbury designing their houses in Victorian style; their wallpaper was painted with a yellowish-green pigment- Scheele’s Green, also named Schloss Green, which was trendy in Europe in the 19th century. This colour has been used in many products such as clothes, artificial flowers, and furnishings. While people awoke to the beauty of nature, they did not realize what was behind this charming green dust.
The hue was invented in 1775 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele by accident. After heating the sodium carbonate, mixing arsenious oxide, and adding a copper sulphate, a bright colour called Scheele’s Green came to life. As soon as the pigment set, the chemist found out its poisonous nature, “But what’s a little arsenic when you’ve got a great new colour to sell?” colour historian Victoria Finlay quips.
People adored the perfect saturation in this green pigment. Many considered green a harmonious match to the light hair colour. The bright colour was lightened more than most of the traditional dyes of that period. It has been widely used in hats, gloves, and skits. With the popularity of the Romantic movement, wallpaper with Scheele’s Green has been used by almost every middle-class family. This pure natural green also enticed Napoleon in his living room and bathroom, the attractive (arsenic-infused) colour magnificently painted. “Bathed in… green,” said Victorian Britain.
In 1861, a young flower maker died from a chronic disease, the symptoms were widely publicized, and the reason for her death ranged from believable to sensational. The historian Alison Matthews David wrote: “She vomited green waters; the whites of her eyes had turned green, and she told her doctor that ‘everything she looked at was green.’” Arsenic had gotten in her organs because of the green dust in the artificial flowers.
For a long time, people who wore these arsenic-infused colours started to get aches and rashes, and some developed scabs and sores. “It can also make your hair fall out and cause people to vomit blood before shutting down their livers and kidneys.” wrote Jennifer Wright. Before 1857, Britain doctors found the poisonous colour and sent the report to the newspaper; the reporter used an illustration with a skeleton dancing in a green dress to describe the toxicity of Scheele’s Green. By the end of the 20th century, it has been completely wiped from the market.
On the tour of Roedde House, the appealing green wallpaper is still fascinating, but today modern non-toxic pigments have made it safe. “Greenery” is bright green as Scheele’s Green and became the Pantone colour of the year in 2017. After a century, people’s love for natural green has endured.