Puce

Puce is a dark red or purple brown color,[1] a brownish purple[2] or a "dark reddish brown."[3]

Puce
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet#CC8899
HSV       (h, s, v)(345°, 33%, 80%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(204, 136, 153)
Source99colors.net
ISCC–NBS descriptorDark pink
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Etymology

Puce is the French word for flea. The color 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.[4] 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.[5] A different source dates the first French use of puce as a color name to the 14th century.[6]

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.[7][8][9]

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)."[10] 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."[11]

Variations of puce

Puce (ISCC-NBS)
Puce (ISCC-NBS)
 
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet#722F37
HSV       (h, s, v)(353°, 59%, 45[12]%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(114, 47, 55)
SourceISCC-NBS
ISCC–NBS descriptorDark red
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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
HSV       (h, s, v)(351°, 46%, 66[13]%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(169, 92, 104)
SourceMaerz and Paul
ISCC–NBS descriptorModerate red
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color box to the right shows the color called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul, A Dictionary of Color;[14] 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
HSV       (h, s, v)(11°, 89%, 31 [15]%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(78, 22, 9)
SourcePourpre.com
ISCC–NBS descriptorDeep brown
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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
HSV       (h, s, v)(354°, 27%, 31[16]%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(79, 58, 60)
SourcePantone TPX[17]
ISCC–NBS descriptorDark grayish reddish brown
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[18]

  • In the film Monsters, Inc., Mike Wazowski mentions, while filing his Scare Report, that "the pink copies go to Accounting, the fuchsia ones go to Purchasing, and the goldenrod ones go to Roz. Leave the puce”

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. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #722F37 (Puce Red):
  13. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #A95C68 (Deep Puce):
  14. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill
  15. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #4E1609 (French Puce):
  16. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #4F3A3C (Dark Puce):
  17. Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears.
  18. Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears:
  19. von Mechow, Tod (September 30, 2010). "Bottle Attributes – Beer Bottle Colors". Soda & Beer Bottles of North America. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  20. Smith, Bret (December 25, 2008). "Paladin (Part 3C) – The Knights of the Round Table (con't)". The Grumblin' Grognard. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  21. 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.
  22. Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses, 2nd Edition, University of California Press, 1989, p. 22.
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