Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 05:18, 18 November 2022

Puce
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#CC8899
sRGB (r, g, b)	(204, 136, 153)
HSV (h, s, v)	(345°, 33%, 80%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(64, 43, 356°)
Source	99colors.net
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark pink
B: Normalized to (byte)

Puce is a dark red or purple brown color, a brownish purple or a "dark reddish brown."

Etymology

The colour is said to be the color of bloodstains on linen or bedsheets, even after being laundered, from a flea's droppings, or after a flea has been crushed.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) dates the first English use of "puce" as a color to 1778. The name comes from the French word puce, or flea, which comes from the Latin word for flea, pulex (stem pulic-). According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the first French use of puce as a color name, meaning flea-color, dates to the 17th century. A different source dates the first French use of puce as a color name to the 14th century.

History

The color puce became popular in the late 18th century in France. It appeared in clothing at the Court of Louis XVI, and was said to be a favorite color of Marie Antoinette, though there are no portraits of her wearing it.

Puce was also a popular fashion color in 19th-century Paris. In one of his novels, Émile Zola described a woman "dressed in a gown of a dark color...between puce and the color of goose poop (caca d'oie)." Victor Hugo wrote in Les Misérables, " Mademoiselle Baptistine gentle, slender, frail, somewhat taller than her brother, dressed in a gown of puce-colored silk, of the fashion of 1806, which she had purchased at that date in Paris, and which had lasted ever since."

Variations of puce

Puce (ISCC-NBS)

Puce (ISCC-NBS)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#722F37
sRGB (r, g, b)	(114, 47, 55)
HSV (h, s, v)	(353°, 59%, 45%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(29, 45, 7°)
Source	ISCC-NBS
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark red
B: Normalized to (byte)

The color to the right is the color called puce in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955). Since this color has a hue code of 353, it is a slightly purplish red.

Puce (Maerz and Paul)

Puce (M&P)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#A95C68
sRGB (r, g, b)	(169, 92, 104)
HSV (h, s, v)	(351°, 46%, 66%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(48, 51, 4°)
Source	Maerz and Paul
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Moderate red
B: Normalized to (byte)

The color box to the right shows the color called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul, A Dictionary of Color; the color puce is displayed on page 37, Plate 7, Color Sample H4.

Puce (Pourpre color list)

Puce (Pourpre color list)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#4E1609
sRGB (r, g, b)	(78, 22, 9)
HSV (h, s, v)	(11°, 88%, 31%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(17, 38, 18°)
Source	Pourpre.com
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Deep brown
B: Normalized to (byte)

At right is the color called puce in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in France. This is the original puce, from which all other tones of puce ultimately derive.

Puce (Pantone)

Puce (Pantone)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#4F3A3C
sRGB (r, g, b)	(79, 58, 60)
HSV (h, s, v)	(354°, 27%, 31%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(27, 12, 6°)
Source	Pantone TPX
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark grayish reddish brown
B: Normalized to (byte)

The color at right is called puce in the Pantone color list.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #19-1518 TPX—Puce.

In popular culture

• In the vintage-bottle-collecting hobby, "puce" is amongst the most desirable colors.
• In the King Arthur legends, Sir Gareth fights Sir Perymones, who is called "The Puce Knight".
• In Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), Jeffrey Kramer's character, Towser, picks the color puce for the color of Patch the Elf's (Dudley Moore) lollipop. He describes the color as "like fuchsia, but a shade less lavender and a bit more pink." He also mentions to his boss, B.Z. (John Lithgow) that if the lollipop is a success, the company can come out with a "Puce Juice".
• In an episode of The Golden Girls, Blanche thinks she's pregnant after taking a pregnancy test. She shows it to the others, and Rose remarks she once had drapes the same colour and refers to it as puce.
• In the movie Monsters, Inc., Mike instructs Sulley to leave the puce folder behind when filing paperwork on his behalf. Sulley initially doesn't know what puce is but says "Oh, that's puce" upon seeing the folder.
• Matthew Garrett has been known to use it in exclamations

See also

• List of colors

References

1. Oxford English Dictionaries on-line
2. Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition: "a brownish purple."
   - Random House College Dictionary: "a dark or brownish purple,"
3. "Brun rouge assez foncé." Le Petit Robert (1988).
4. "puce" in Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed,
5. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, (1966) Oxford University Press
6. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 202; Color Sample of Puce: Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample H4--the color sample shown as puce in Maerz & Paul is a tone of puce halfway between the U.S. and U.K. versions of puce: Puce (Maerz & Paul)
7. Clair, Kassia St (2017-10-24). The Secret Lives of Color. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-5247-0494-0.
8. "The Sexy-Gross Story of Puce". The Awl. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
9. Moonlight, Under The (2020-07-14). "Puce Was Once The Height Of 18th Century French Fashion For A Second". Under The Moonlight. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
10. "Vétue d'une robe sobre...entre le puce et le caca d'oie." Le Petit Robert.
11. Wikisource:Les Misérables/Volume 1/Book Second/Chapter 2
12. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill
13. Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears.
14. Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears:
15. von Mechow, Tod (September 30, 2010). "Bottle Attributes – Beer Bottle Colors". Soda & Beer Bottles of North America. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
16. Smith, Bret (December 25, 2008). "Paladin (Part 3C) – The Knights of the Round Table (con't)". The Grumblin' Grognard. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
17. Search result, Puce Knight: Sir Thomas Malory; Keith Baines (October 12, 2001). Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table : The Classic Rendition. Penguin. pp. 146, 147, 149, 152, 159. ISBN 978-0-451-52816-2. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
18. "Monsters, Inc. Billy Crystal: Mike". IMDB. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
19. "Linux kernel developer receives halpful advice on how the Internet of Butts *should* work: download 80GB of SatoshiDice spam to boot your PC : Buttcoin". Reddit. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
20. "Matthew Garrett on Twitter: "Christing Puce ..." / Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-11-18.

• Shades of pink
• Shades of red
• Marie Antoinette
• History of fashion