Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours: The Postcards

A stunning box of 50 postcards, inspired by colours of animals, plants and minerals. The front of each card is a single block of colour alongside its poetic description as recorded in Patrick Syme’s book Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours.

There’s Buff Orange that you’d find in the eye of a kingfisher, Berlin Blue just like in the feathers of a jay and Chocolate Red that’s similar to the brown disk of a common marigold flower.

The book was first published in 1814 and used by naturalists to help describe wildlife in a consistent way before the advent of photography. Most notably, Charles Darwin referred to it while surveying specimens as part of the British Navy’s voyage on HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836.