The Value of Color

The red color in the tile I photographed (in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul) is called Iznik Red. Tiles made in Turkey with this unique glaze in the 16th century are rare and can be worth over $20,000 each. That particular recipe was lost over time.

So, even though very similar reds are produced today, why is the original Iznik red so valuable?

In the past, I’ve created certain blue colors by mixing dyes and I didn’t write down how I did it. I can’t reproduce the exact colors again. Does that make the unique colors more valuable to me? Maybe. The reason might be because I remember the joy I felt when I first saw them after I had rinsed and dried the newly dyed fabrics.

Perhaps the value comes more from the emotions it invokes than anything else. And isn’t that what great art does, too? It invokes intense emotional responses.

So what about all the blues in this photo I took off of the coast of Turkey? If I could reproduce them exactly would the recipes be valuable? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but value is in the wallet of the buyer.