The colour wheel of the Chromobase is the indexing tool of a selection of coloured objects referenced in the database. It is based on the first colour systems including brightness and chroma published by the chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889) in Colours and Their Application to Industrial Arts Using Chromatic Circles (1864). This was the result of Chevreul’s 25 years of research and experimentation with colour as the director of the Gobelins Dyeworks in Paris. Building on his earlier work entitled The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colours (1839), he devised a precise chromatic nomenclature which ascribed specific technical meanings to colour scale and nuance, thus establishing a highly detailed colour classification scheme. The first plate shows 72 hues at maximum chroma. This plate is followed by nine colour wheels shading progressively towards black. Diagramming the variations in colour obtained by the progressive addition of black to the basic colours of red, yellow, and blue, these ten chromatic circles present nearly 15,000 different shades of colour.

Psautier dit de saint Louis

artistic objects

1270

Psautier dit de saint Louis F16

49% 0.67

26° 86% 0.85

239° 95% 0.86

Bottle of coralline

scientific & technical objects

Bottle of coralline 2/2

345° 62% 0.97

Lanafuchsine 6B concentrate

scientific & technical objects

Lanafuchsine 6B concentrate SLMC

14° 66% 0.72

Azofuchsine 6B

scientific & technical objects

8KU114.4.Pl4.36 Azofuchsine 6B

319° 69% 0.76

The Majolica Fountain in the International Exhibition

artistic objects

1862-08-30

Majolica fountain

54° 88% 0.92

80% 0.95

197° 72% 0.92

Sir Patrick Spens

artistic objects

1856

Siddal 1

208° 80% 0.86

112° 49% 0.84

36° 78% 0.85

Blue blot

artistic objects

Gartside blue blot

225° 97% 0.91

214° 38% 0.86

Fuchsine on cotton

scientific & technical objects

8KE152.1.489.27_1 Fuchsine on cotton

316° 59% 0.84

Silk skirt and blouse dyed with Perkin's Mauve Aniline Dye

artistic objects

1862

Mauve aniline dyed dress

100% 1

275° 66% 0.84

Acid Azo-fuchsine 273

scientific & technical objects

P228_33_246_273_2 Acid Azo-fuchsine 273

349° 97% 0.88

Trade card, Chocolaterie d'Aiguebelle

artistic objects

1884

Aiguebelle trade card 1

162° 94% 0.5

53° 55% 0.88

Vue intérieure de la Sainte-Chapelle

artistic objects

1847

Vue intérieure de la Sainte Chapelle 3/3

12° 86% 0.83

44° 82% 1

196° 78% 0.76

Elgiva

artistic objects

1854

Wells painting 1

220° 54% 0.72

47° 20% 0.95

180° 24% 0.81

55° 68% 0.66

"Ponceau" red fuchsine on cotton

scientific & technical objects

P228.16.246_1 "Ponceau" red fuchsine on cotton

20° 85% 0.78

Life’s Illusions

artistic objects

1849

Watts painting

34° 56% 0.94

29° 80% 0.93

31° 90% 0.59

Crimson blot

artistic objects

Gartside crimson blot

340° 88% 0.86

324° 52% 0.95

Extract from Wilkinson's On Colour and on the Necessity for a General Diffusion of Taste Among all Classes (1858)

artistic objects

1858

Wilkinson colours

100% 0.02

56° 12% 0.93

235° 73% 0.73

14° 84% 0.81

131° 46% 0.65

Stereographic Views of the International Exhibition of 1862

artistic objects

1862

Stereoscope Tinted Venus

34° 8% 0.98

37° 61% 0.95

197° 83% 0.89

The Tune of the Seven Towers

artistic objects

1857

Rossetti painting 2

50° 19% 0.98

231° 94% 0.91

16° 90% 0.78

109° 45% 0.89

Catalogue général de la parfumerie et savonnerie Gellé frères, vers 1885 et 1900

artistic objects

1885

Catalogue général de la parfumerie et savonnerie Gellé frères, vers 1885.

28° 8% 0.95

100% 0.01

43° 45% 0.97

Azofuchsine 6B Bayer

scientific & technical objects

Azofuchsine 6B Bayer

328° 33% 0.74

Lady Affixing Pennant to a Knight’s Spear

artistic objects

1856

Siddal 2

243° 92% 0.91

100% 0.5

126° 63% 0.5

Watercolour sketching box

scientific & technical objects

1860

Wells watercolour sketching box

180° 39% 0.79

32% 0.81

Lanafuchsine 6B

scientific & technical objects

Lanafuchsine 6B

301° 62% 0.72

Peintures murales des chapelles de Notre-Dame de Paris exécutées sur les cartons de E. Viollet-Le-Duc relevées par Maurice Ouradou

artistic objects

1870

Notre Dame new version

168° 27% 0.81

214° 55% 0.8

100% 0.88

35° 83% 0.89

Athens, Erechtheion (406 BCE), guilloche molding of an exterior columnar capital with inlays of polychrome glass beads

artistic objects

1836

Erechtheion

196° 46% 0.87

61° 52% 0.88

286° 14% 0.82

Oil sketching box

scientific & technical objects

1860

Wells sketching box

17° 59% 0.47

195° 27% 0.81

Eight maiolica wares by the Ginori manufactory analysed by XRF spectroscopy at the Victoria and Albert Museum

artistic objects

1877

Ginori maiolica wares

236° 67% 0.74

91% 0.65

54° 88% 0.98

35° 84% 0.9

The Great Bookcase

artistic objects

1862

Bookcase full view

55° 55% 0.94

76% 0.75

196° 85% 0.77

Fuchsine of concentrated G-acid

scientific & technical objects

8KU114.5.PL12.93_2 Fuchsine with concentrated G-acid

332° 94% 0.96

Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends

artistic objects

1868

Alma Tadema painting

62° 5% 0.96

65° 25% 0.97

20° 91% 0.53

Extract from the 1821 edition of Werner's Nomenclature of Colours by Syme

artistic objects

1821

Werner colours

100% 0.02

199° 74% 0.67

164° 100% 0.61

217° 87% 0.69

54° 18% 0.86

Flower Study - Gentian

artistic objects

1862

Gentian

228° 72% 0.96

73° 77% 0.58

The Shadow of Death

artistic objects

1873

The Shadow of Death

45° 22% 0.95

38° 54% 0.97

264° 4% 1

216° 41% 0.92

Yellow blot

artistic objects

Gartside yellow blot

59° 83% 0.98

107° 66% 0.68

343° 49% 0.68

Plate “colour contrasts”

artistic objects

Barnard’s plate

100% 0.95

131° 42% 0.69

51° 80% 0.88

204° 95% 0.92

100% 0.07

Red fuchsine on wool

scientific & technical objects

8FA38.2-2.575.29 Red of fuchsine on wool

338° 78% 0.88

Croquis faits au Musée des Monuments français

artistic objects

1812

Croquis faits au Musée des Monuments français 1/2

Fuchsine Renard

scientific & technical objects

1877

Fuchsine RENARD

297° 84% 0.73

90° 85% 0.6

Register of samples and correspondence, 1850-1930: letter from Camille Koechlin to Horace Koechlin, 4 August 1861

scientific & technical objects

1861

Letter from Camille Koechlin to Horace Koechlin

249° 90% 0.72

287° 50% 0.7

310° 6% 0.88

Kaleidoscopic Colour-Top

scientific & technical objects

1858

Kaleidoscopic colour top

60° 32% 0.98

136° 39% 0.99

211° 66% 1

87% 1

40° 86% 0.76

Purple fuchsine on silk

scientific & technical objects

8KE152.1.503.33 Purple fuchsine on silk

259° 59% 0.73

Acid fuchsine on wool & cotton

scientific & technical objects

MS152.169.IX.3_2 Acid fuchsine on wool & cotton

317° 60% 0.81

325° 5% 0.94

Barnard's sketchbook

artistic objects

Barnard's sketchbook

43% 0.84

60° 28% 0.99

100% 0.06

219° 45% 0.85

89° 81% 0.66

Detail of yellow and red lustre decoration on a Ginori bowl, seen under normal (left) and ranking light (right)

artistic objects

1859

Lustre decorations

56° 75% 0.91

235° 77% 0.73

69% 0.8

Histoire archéologique, descriptive et graphique de la Sainte-Chapelle du Palais

artistic objects

1857

Sainte Chapelle new version

57° 88% 0.95

100% 0.83

244° 80% 0.87

Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl

artistic objects

1864

Symphony in White, No. 2

117° 3% 1

297° 1% 0.03

202° 90% 0.9

100% 0.94

56° 24% 0.93

Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl

artistic objects

1861

Symphony in White n°1: The White Girl

90° 2% 0.92

299° 2% 0.98

36° 4% 0.96

The Wedding of St George and Princess Sabra

artistic objects

1857

Rossetti painting 1

59° 75% 0.95

207° 82% 0.82

14° 77% 0.86