Taupe
Taupe (
/ˈtoʊp/) is a dark grayish-brown color. The word "taupe" derives from the Latin name for the European Mole, Talpa europaea.
Originally, this referred only to the average color of the French mole,[1] but like the colors pink and lavender, the name expanded (in the case of taupe beginning in the 1940s) to encompass a wide range of varying shades.
Taupe is a vague, unscientific color term which may be used to refer to almost any grayish-brown, brownish-gray, or warm gray color. It often overlaps with tan and even people who use color professionally (such as designers and artists) frequently disagree as to what "taupe" means. There is no single, generally recognized authority for such terms.
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[edit] Taupe
| Taupe | ||
|---|---|---|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #483C32 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (72, 60, 50) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (30°, 17%, 34%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
||
The color displayed at right matches the color sample called taupe referenced below in the 1930 book A Dictionary of Color, the world standard for color terms before the invention of computers. However, the word taupe may often be used to refer to lighter shades of taupe today, and therefore another name for this color is dark taupe.
The first use of "taupe" as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact year is not known).[2]
[edit] Mauve taupe
| Mauve Taupe | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #915F6D | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (145, 95, 109) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (285°, 37%, 54%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
||
At right is displayed the color mauve taupe.
The first recorded use of mauve taupe as a color name in English was in 1925.[3]
A popular brand of professional plastic chessboards marketed to chess masters in the 1960s had squares of this color and the color magnolia because it was felt that those two colors were both easy on the eyes and aesthetic together. These boards were used by chess master George Koltanowski in his chess tournaments in which he played blindfolded against hundreds of people at a time.[citation needed]
[edit] Rose taupe
| Rose Taupe | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #905D5D | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (144, 93, 93) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (330°, 42%, 46%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
||
The color displayed at right is rose taupe.
The first recorded use of rose taupe as a color name in English was in 1924.[4]
[edit] Sandy taupe
| Sandy Taupe | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #967117 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (150, 113, 23) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (43°, 85%, 59%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the color sandy taupe.
This color is also called taupe sand.
[edit] Taupe (Crayola)
| Taupe (Crayola) | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #B38B6D | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (179, 139, 109) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (26°, 39%, 70[5]%) |
| Source | Crayola | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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This light tone of taupe is the color that is called taupe in Crayola colored pencils.
[edit] Pale taupe (mouse)
Pale taupe is a dusky brownish grey color. A British paint color called mouse's back is similar in color and source of name.[6] This color is also called mouse.
The first recorded use of mouse as a color name in English was in 1606.[7]
[edit] Taupe gray
| Taupe Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #8B8589 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (139, 133, 137) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (30°, 1%, 60%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
||
Displayed at right is the color taupe gray.
[edit] Taupe in culture
- The various tones of the color taupe are widely used in fashion, interior design, industrial design, and in graphic design where Pantone ink and RGB hexadecimal specifiers both describe the color as a warm gray.
- Kelly Hoppen has a paint colour called 'in love with taupe'.
- Taupe is used in fashions as a light-warm color to emphasize soft, even tones.
- In Little Black Book, Brittany Murphy says that when Diane Sawyer wears taupe, it is elegant.
- In Ocean's Eleven, on viewing a camera feed of a back hallway of the casino, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) asks: 'Why do they always paint hallways that color?'. Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) replies: 'They say taupe is very soothing.'
- In Factory Girl, Diana Vreeland (played by Illeana Douglas) agrees to buy one of Andy Warhol's art pieces with a shade of taupe.
- In the movie There's Something About Mary, Ted Stroehmann indicates that the colors of his tuxedo are "tan and taupe".
- In Maid in Manhattan, it is referenced in the line, "You look like someone who knows the difference between taupe and caramel." —Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson) to Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez)
- An episode from the second season of Mad About You, Instant Karma, revolves around the bad luck Helen attracts after accidentally obtaining a taupe blouse without paying.
- In one episode of The Simpsons, "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", a child on a bus shouts, "Punchbuggy taupe!"
- In the November 7, 2007 episode of CBS's Criminal Minds, the color taupe is referred to as a "negative color" when picked as a color by a person.
- In the fifth episode of season two of Dilbert the artist Rusty represents the color taupe as orange in an art class.
- Impressionist Rory Bremner has in the past referred to a fictional board that monitors Gordon Brown called 'OFBROWN' or 'Taupe'.
- In The O.C. episode "The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't", Seth refers to Summer and Marissa as being taupe on his Chrismukkah color chart due to their lack of holiday spirit.
[edit] References
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, Page 183
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, Page 183; Color Sample of Taupe: Page 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A6
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203; Color Sample of Mauve Taupe Page 37 Plate 7 Color Sample C8
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203; Color Sample of Rose Taupe Page 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A4
- ^ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #B38B6D (Light Taupe):
- ^ Friedman, Joseph. Paint and Color in Decoration. Rizzoli New York: 2003. Page 87. ISBN 0-8478-2593-0.
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 199; Color Sample of Mouse: Page 53 Plate 15 Color Sample C6
[edit] External links
- [1] ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps—See samples of the various tones of Taupe displayed on the indicated page.
[edit] See also
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Ash gray | Battleship gray | Black | Cadet gray | Charcoal | Cool gray | Davy's gray | Payne's gray | Silver |
| Slate gray | Taupe | Purple taupe | Medium taupe | Rose quartz | Taupe gray | Timberwolf | White | ||
| The samples shown above are only indicative. | |||||||||
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | Beaver | Beige | Bistre | Bole | Bronze | Brown | Buff | Burgundy | Burnt sienna |
| Burnt umber | Camel | Chamoisee | Chestnut | Chocolate | Citrine | Coffee | Copper | Cordovan | Desert sand |
| Earth yellow | Ecru | Fallow | Fawn | Field drab | Fulvous | Isabelline | Khaki | Lion | Liver |
| Mahogany | Maroon | Ochre | Raw umber | Redwood | Rufous | Russet | Rust | Sand | Sandy brown |
| Seal brown | Sepia | Sienna | Sinopia | Tan | Taupe | Tawny | Umber | Wenge | Wheat |
| The samples shown above are only indicative. | |||||||||
