Puce

This article is about the colour. For the school PUCE, see Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.

Puce
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#CC8899
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(204, 136, 153)
HSV (h, s, v)	(345°, 33%, 80%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(64, 43, 356°)
Source	99colors.net [1]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark pink
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Puce is a brownish purple colour. The term comes from the French couleur puce, literally meaning "flea colour". ^[2]

Puce became popular in the late 18th century in France. It appeared in clothing at the court of Louis XVI, and was said to be a favourite colour of Marie Antoinette, though there are no portraits of her wearing it. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Puce was also a popular fashion colour in 19th-century Paris. In his novel Nana , Émile Zola describes a woman "dressed in a dark gown of an equivocal colour, somewhere between puce and goose shit." ^[6] In Victor Hugo's Les Misérables , Mademoiselle Baptistine wears "a gown of puce-coloured silk, of the fashion of 1806, which she had purchased at that date in Paris, and which had lasted ever since." ^[7]

Variations of puce

Puce (ISCC-NBS)

Puce (ISCC-NBS)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#722F37
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(114, 47, 55)
HSV (h, s, v)	(353°, 59%, 45%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(29, 45, 7°)
Source	ISCC-NBS [8]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark red
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color to the right is the color called puce in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955). Since this color has a hue code of 353, it is a slightly purplish red.

Puce (Maerz and Paul)

Puce (M&P)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#A95C68
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(169, 92, 104)
HSV (h, s, v)	(351°, 46%, 66%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(48, 51, 4°)
Source	Maerz and Paul
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Moderate red
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color box to the right shows the color called puce in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul, A Dictionary of Color; ^[9] the color puce is displayed on page 37, Plate 7, Color Sample H4.

Puce (Pourpre color list)

Puce (Pourpre color list)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#4E1609
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(78, 22, 9)
HSV (h, s, v)	(11°, 88%, 31%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(17, 38, 18°)
Source	Pourpre.com [10]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Deep brown
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is the color called puce in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in France. This is the original puce, from which all other tones of puce ultimately derive.^{[ citation needed ]}

Puce (Pantone)

Puce (Pantone)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#4F3A3C
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(79, 58, 60)
HSV (h, s, v)	(354°, 27%, 31%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(27, 12, 6°)
Source	Pantone TPX [11] [12]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Dark grayish reddish brown
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color at right is called puce in the Pantone color list.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #19-1518 TPX—Puce. ^[13]

See also

• List of colors

References

1. 99colors.net
2. "puce" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/3451789277.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
3. St. Clair, Kassia (24 October 2017). The Secret Lives of Color. Penguin. ISBN   978-1-5247-0494-0. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
4. Kelleher, Katy (24 October 2017). "The Sexy-Gross Story of Puce". The Awl. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
5. Under The Moonlight (14 July 2020). "Puce Was Once The Height Of 18th Century French Fashion For A Second". Under The Moonlight. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
6. Zola, Émile (1880). Nana. Paris: G. Charpentier. p. 45. Vêtue d'une robe sombre de couleur indécise, entre le puce et le caca d'oie.
7. Hugo, Victor (1887). Les Misérables. Translated by Hapgood, Isabel F. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 67.
8. ISCC-NBS ^[usurped]
9. Maerz and Paul (1930). A Dictionary of Color. New York: McGraw-Hill.
10. Pourpre.com
11. "Pantone TPX". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
12. Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears.
13. "Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder--Type the word "Puce" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color appears:". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2013.