View source for Bistre

{{Short description|Dark brown color}}
{{for|the area of Buckley, Flintshire, Wales known as Bistre|Buckley, Flintshire#Villages}}
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{{Expand language|langcode=fr|otherarticle=Bistre (couleur)|date=June 2023}}
[[File:Jhfragonard2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2| {{lang|fr|Le coucher des ouvrières}}, a wash painting using bistre pigment by [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard]] (1732–1806)]]

'''Bistre''' (or '''bister''') is a [[pigment]] made from [[soot]]. Historically, [[beech]]wood was burned to produce the soot, which was boiled and diluted with water. Many [[Old Master]]s used bistre as the ink for their [[wash painting]]s.{{ref label|1728|1|^}} Bistre's appearance is generally of a dark grayish brown, with a [[yellow]]ish cast.

''Bistre'' has also been used to name [[color]]s resembling the pigment, typically [[shades of brown]]. The first recorded use of ''bistre'' as a color name in [[English language|English]] was in 1727; another name for the color ''bistre'' is  '''soot brown'''.{{sfnp|Maerz|Paul|1930|page=190}}

==Variations of bistre==

===Bistre===
{{infobox color
|title=Bistre (Bister)
|hex=3D2B1F
|source=[[99colors.net]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.99colors.net/name/bistre|title=Color Bistre &#124; Hex Code #3D2B1F &#124; RGB 61, 43, 31|website=www.99colors.net}}</ref>
|isccname=Dark yellowish brown}}

Among other colors, ''bistre'' is the name of a very dark [[tints and shades|shade]] of [[gray]]ish [[brown]] (the version shown on the immediate right).

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===Bistre brown===
{{infobox color
|title=Bistre (ISCC-NBS #94) (M&P) (Bister Brown)
|hex=967117
|source=[[ISCC-NBS]]<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121122220208/http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-b.htm ISCC-NBS]}}</ref>/M&P
|isccname=Light olive brown}}

At right is displayed the color '''bistre brown''', a medium brownish tone of the color ''bistre'', also known as ''soot brown''.

This is the tone of ''bistre'' that most closely matches the color sample in the 1930 book ''A Dictionary of Color'' by Maerz and Paul.{{sfnp|Maerz|Paul|1930|page=53|loc=Plate 15 Color Sample C9}}

This tone of bistre is the color of the ink that was used by the Old Masters for their drawings.

The [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Color/Normalized Color Coordinates|normalized color coordinates]] for bistre brown are identical to the color names [[Drab (color)|drab]], [[Desert sand (color)#Sand dune (Drab)|sand dune]], and [[Beige#Mode beige|mode beige]], which were first recorded as color names in English, respectively, in 1686,{{sfnp|Maerz|Paul|1930|page=194}} 1925,{{sfnp|Maerz|Paul|1930|page=204|loc=Color Sample of Sand Dune: Page 47 Plate 14 Color Sample B5}} and 1928.{{sfnp|Maerz|Paul|1930|page=199}}

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===French bistre===
{{infobox color
|title=Bistre (Pourpre.com) (French Bister)
|hex=856D4D
|source=[[Pourpre.com]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pourpre.com/fr/dictionnaire/file/bistre|title=Pourpre.com}}</ref>
|isccname=Moderate olive brown}}

At right is displayed the color '''French bistre''', which is the tone of bistre called ''bistre'' in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in [[France]].

For pictures of bistre colored [[postage stamp]]s, see the [[:fr:Bistre (couleur)|French Wikipedia article]] on the color bistre.
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===Spanish bistre===
{{infobox color
|title=Bistre (G&S) (Spanish Bister)
|hex=80755A
|source={{harvp|Gallego|Sanz|2005}}
|isccname=Grayish olive}}

'''Spanish bistre''' is the color that is called ''bistre'' (the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] word for "bistre" is the same as the English word) in the {{lang|es|Guía de coloraciones}} (''Guide to colorations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the [[Hispanophone]] realm.

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== See also ==
{{wiktionary | bistre}}
* [[List of colors]]
* [[Trois crayons]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gallego |first1=Rosa |title=Guía de coloraciones |last2=Sanz |first2=Juan Carlos |date=2005 |publisher=H. Blume |isbn=84-89840-31-8 |location=Madrid |trans-title=Guide to Colorations |language=es}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Maerz |first1=Aloys John |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcolo0000aloy/ |title=A Dictionary of Color |last2=Paul |first2=M. Rea |date=1930 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York}}
{{refend}}

{{Shades of brown}}
{{Shades of gray}}
{{Shades of black}}

[[Category:Pigments]]
[[Category:Organic pigments]]
[[Category:Shades of brown]]
[[Category:Shades of gray]]