Seeing Red: Coral in History

Last fall the more fashion-forward were seeing a certain red on the runways for this spring, and to our eyes that red was coral. This color is named, of course, for the underwater animal/colony that so typifies it and is found throughout the Mediterranean. In his Natural History (77 AD), Pliny the Elder describes the first use of coral as decoration, by the Celts who used it to decorate their swords, shield, and helmets. Their coral, collected from the Gallic Gulf and near the Aeolian Islands off Sicily was the best, the reddest and most branched, and when it was learned that in India red coral was esteemed to have mystical powers, it quickly became a scarce commodity. According to Pliny, in India the coral was thought to ward off danger, and branches were hung around the necksround the necks of infants. Sometime in the intervening years, the Celts took up this practice, followed by the Italians, among whom it is popular today to hang a carved horn or branch of coral dangling over the chest. Lately, the corno as it is called has found its use in fashion less to ward off the evil eye than to draw in the eye. Now, this spring and summer, we hope everybody will be seeing red. See more coral from Hayden-Harnett.