R. Shamey, R. G. KuehniPioneers of Color Sciencehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30811-1_25

25. Schiffermüller, Ignaz 1727–1806

Renzo Shamey¹ and Rolf G. Kuehni¹

(1)

Color Science and Imaging Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Wilson College of Textiles, Raleigh, NC, USA

Renzo Shamey (Corresponding author)

Email: rshamey@ncsu.edu

Rolf G. Kuehni

Email: rolf_kuehni@ncsu.edu

25.1 Versuch Eines Farbensystems

References

../images/336076_1_En_25_Chapter/336076_1_En_25_Figa_HTML.png — Wikipedia, Public Domain

Ignaz Schiffermüller was born on November 2, 1727 in Hellmonsödt near Linz in Austria and was educated in Linz. When 19 he joined the Jesuit order and studied theology in Wien, as well as botany, ornithology, and mineralogy. In 1759, he became a lecturer at the Theresianum Institute in Wien, a private boarding school founded in 1746, where he remained for 15 years. He continued to be engaged in the natural sciences, with special interest in butterflies that pointed him also in the direction of color science. His primary reputation is that of a leading entomologist of his time. In 1776, he together with another Theresianum teacher, J. N. M. Denis (1729–1800), published Systematisches Verzeichnis der Schmetterlinge der Wiener Gegend (Systematic register of the butterflies of the Vienna region), containing descriptions of 1150 different species. It was widely recognized as an exemplary presentation of the subject matter. In 1775, he was named an imperial councilor and moved to a college in Linz. He died in Linz on June 21, 1806. He left several extensive collections, among them one of butterflies [1].

25.1 Versuch Eines Farbensystems

As an entomologist, Schiffermüller saw the need for a standardized color nomenclature and atlas of color samples that could be used as reference materials in entomological studies. In 1772, he published Versuch eines Farbensystems (An attempt toward a color system [2], in which he discussed the issues that would need to be addressed and the potential uses of such a system for various purposes. In the frontispiece, the book contains a hand-colored continuous hue circle with 12 identified hues (Fig. 25.1), in part based on those described in the book L’optique des couleurs by the French Jesuit R. P. Castel (1688–1757) [3]. The circle illustrates what Schiffermüller called “blühende Farben” (florid colors), i.e., saturated or full colors. In regard to desaturated colors, Schiffermüller proposed tint/shade scales (mixtures of the full color pigments with white or black pigments). In his book, he showed examples of three blue hues (Fig. 25.2). As he describes on page 29 of [2], the left column (a) is to represent a tint/shade scale of a reddish tinged blue, the central column of a blue neither reddish nor greenish and the right column of a greenish tinged blue. (It is obvious that in Fig. 25.2 from a specific surviving copy of the book the middle column is erroneously colored or the pigments have deteriorated, since all samples are very dark.) The samples in row G are to represent the blooming or full colors. In a separate table, he named each of the samples in German, Latin, and French. Sample Ga is described as ultramarine blue, sample Gb as blue and sample Gc as Queen’s blue or high blue.

../images/336076_1_En_25_Chapter/336076_1_En_25_Fig1_HTML.png — Fig. 25.1
Frontispiece of Versuch eines Farbensystems with the 12-hue continuous hue circle

../images/336076_1_En_25_Chapter/336076_1_En_25_Fig2_HTML.png — Fig. 25.2
Tint/shade scales from white via the full color to black of three blue hues

It is evident from his text that Schiffermüller had become aware of multiple problems and issues in assembling such a color atlas that could be used by entomologists, artists, or other potential users as reference. A major problem he identified was the absence of colorant standardization and the considerable variation in hue and strength of different pigments, natural or man-made, marketed by different sources under given common names.

Lambert’s book on the color pyramid was published in the same year, thus Schiffermüller was not aware of the necessity to fill a three-dimensional space with color samples. A “color lexicon” such as envisaged by Schiffermüller and containing 4600 named samples was published in Germany in 1782 by Prange [4], followed in 1794 by the Wiener Farbenkabinett with 5400 samples.