When I was a child, my brother and I were occasionally looked after by an elderly neighbour. She wouldn’t have known it but Miss Heaney was a fundamental part of my early colour tutelage.
Firstly, on the back of her larder door was a bag stuffed with empty pastel-coloured, gilt-lettered food boxes from Fortnum & Mason and Harrods, saved for me and Tom to build things from when we went round.
Secondly, Miss Heaney had purple soap in her bathroom and I remember pelting down her stairs two at a time to quiz her about its provenance the day I made this euphoric discovery (from Boots, apparently).
Thirdly, Miss Heaney was fanatical about heraldry and I was fascinated by her delicate watercolours of coats of arms.
She told me the colours were no ordinary colours but had special names which hailed from Norman French (naturally I was captivated by the thought of this).
The colours of heraldry
There are five strong, bright colours used in heraldry, plus two ‘metals’, listed here with their heraldic names.
Red: Gules
Blue: Azure
Green: Vert
Black: Sable
Purple: Purpure
Gold or yellow: Or
Silver or white: Argent
A stint at Miss Heaney’s was SO much more than being babysat. It was a true colour education.
Martha, The Colour File x
