The colour white has always represented wealth and power, to such an extent that something as simple as wearing a white coat can give the impression that we are rich enough not to have to take public transport. White is a non-colour, which exists because it reflects all the colours on the entire visible spectrum, and this connection to light means that it is deeply rooted in the human psyche. Like anything which is connected to the divine, it can arouse both awe and fear at the same time: in China, it represents death and mourning, but in the West and Japan, brides wear white as a symbol of sexual purity. White also takes on various meanings in the Catholic religion; one example in particular is that of the Holy Spirit, which is often depicted descending on humanity as a white dove surrounded by a pale golden light.
Producing the colour white is a complex process, and lead white, a lead carbonate with a crystalline molecular structure, was used in art for many centuries. Pliny the Elder described the process of making the colour in the 1st century, and it was used for centuries, despite being highly toxic. In the 18th century, the French government commissioned chemist Guyton de Morveau to find a safer alternative, and in 1782 he announced that a laboratory technician named Courtois was making a white substance called zinc oxide at the Academy of Dijon. Zinc oxide was non-toxic and less opaque, but it dried slowly, and more importantly, cost four times as much as lead white. What’s more, it was brittle and prone to cracking. Winsor & Newton introduced zinc oxide as a watercolour pigment in 1834, under the name ‘Chinese White’ to make it seem exotic, but it was unsuccessful. The use of lead white gradually faded with the discovery of titanium white, which began to be produced on an industrial scale in 1916, and by the end of World War II, had taken over 80% of the market.
White butter, ice white, and dirty white are just a few of the many hues of white, but the shade with the most interesting history is undoubtedly Isabelline white, a yellowish shade that is found in nature in the coat of bay horses, due to the presence of the cream gene which dilutes the red pigment. In 1601, Archduke Albert VII, husband of Isabella of Austria, ordered the siege of Ostend. The legend of this colour has it that Isabella was convinced that the siege would be so short-lived, that she vowed to refrain from changing her underwear until her husband returned victorious. Isabelline white began to be used to describe the colour of the queen’s underwear three years later when the siege finally ended.