Until 1856, natural dyes and pigments were used as colouring agents. Beautifully coloured fabrics dating back several thousand years have been found in China, Asia and some sections of Europe. These were obtained from plants, insects, and minerals. Dyes from these sources were limited and extraction procedures were expensive and time consuming.
By 1850 the Industrial Revolution in Europe led to a rapidly increasing textile industry, which created an increased demand for readily available, inexpensive, and easily applied dyes and revealed the important economic limitations of natural dyes.
The introduction of mauve, the first commercially successful synthetic dye, in 1857 triggered the decline in the dominance of natural dyes in world markets. Mauve, was discovered by British chemist William H. Perkin. The success of mauve led to demands by English textile manufacturers for other new dyes. By trial and error, reactions of coal tar compounds were found to yield useful dyes. By 1914 the synthetic dye industry was firmly established in Germany, where 90 percent of the world’s dyes were produced.
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