Color Chronicles: Pomona of the Regency Era

If you're a fan of antiques and vintage fashion, you'll probably be familiar with Pomona Green. Pomona Green is a shade of emerald. According to the Jane Austen Center's discussion about trendy colors during the Regency era, Pomona green was named after the goddess of the apple orchard. Her favorite fruit was the apple, thus the color is often associated with the green apple.

Do not confuse Pomona to sea green, as Pomona has a tinge of yellow (such as with green apples, only darker).

Pomona was the green of the Regency era.

The Pomona green was famous in women's fashion (morning dresses, bonnets, and redingotes), mostly paired with other regency colors such as primrose yellow and puce. To create the color, Oxide Green Chrome or nascent-green or iodine green is used. It was also used in furnishings, as Swedish Crown Prince Bernadottes' suites of rooms in Castle Rosendal are colored in Pomona green. English interior design pigment maker Edward Bulmer adds more of historical context:

“In our modern world where you can apparently define colour with an Old English sheepdog it is fine to call a colour apple green. In the marketing of two centuries ago the Latin lexicon was the thing and so this clear, innocent green was known as Pomona! It is a rich mix of pigments, relying not just on blue and yellow for its tone but a dash of viridian as well. It is an incredibly equal success.”

Surprisingly, this vintage color is quite easy to replicate. Head over to lush meadows and provinces to find this pigment in nature – just make sure to photograph under mild, temperate lighting. And if you want to go a bit bold with this royal color, try developing your films with the cross-processing technique!

Already have Pomona-hued Lomographs to share? Let the whole world see by uploading them in your LomoHome!

2018-08-15 #culture #color-chronicles #pomona-green