Margo's Finds La Spire 1849

Prussian Blue designs of the 1830-1860s often featured ombres overprinted with scrolls (small to large), bubbles and florals. The popular color combination of Prussian Blue with buff through chocolate was achieved via a simple printing process. The dye was very stable to both light and washing but changed when exposed to alkaline. A printer could dye the entire design with Prussian Blue and then as a second step, overprinted with an alkali paste. The overprinted (bleached out) portion ranged from buff to a deep chocolate brown