In 18th and 19th century London, green was the most fashionable colour to paint a front door
Green was so trendy in the Romantic period of the 1790s that stately homes couldn’t get enough of it.
Chatsworth House in Derbyshire had seven rooms painted green.
The colour was associated with Indian mysticism and Eastern paintings, and Chinese greens were especially popular.
But in China itself one green was prized above all others. Sadly, no one knew what it looked like.
Victoria Finlay is the author of Colour – Travels Through the Paintbox and she tells Jennifer Chevalier what she imagined the colour of “secret celadon” might look like.
