Isabelline (colour)
Encyclopedia
Isabelline (colour)
Isabelline , sometimes called Isabella, is a colour, variously described as pale grey-yellow, pale fawn, pale cream-brown or parchment....
, variously described as pale grey-yellow, pale fawn, pale cream-brown or parchment.
The first recorded use of Isabella as a colour name in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, according to the 1930 book A Dictionary of Color was in the year 1601 ; however, others argue for an earlier date of first use—see below.
With horses, Isabelline or Isabella Palomino are terms applied to very pale palomino
Palomino
Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" base coat...
horses whose coat colour
Equine coat color
Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.While most horses remain the same color throughout life, a few, over the course of several years, will develop a different coat color from that with which they were born...
is cream, pale yellow or almost white. It is sometimes also applied to cremello
Cream gene
The cream gene is responsible for a number of horse coat colors. Horses that have the cream gene in addition to a base coat color that is chestnut will become palomino if they are heterozygous, having one copy of the cream gene, or cremello, if they are homozygous. Similarly, horses with a bay...
s. This term is used more commonly in Europe than in the United States.
The term is also found in bird names, with reference to plumage colouring, in Isabelline Waterhen
Isabelline Waterhen
The Isabelline Bush-hen, Amaurornis isabellina also known as Sulawesi Waterhen or Isabelline Waterhen is a large, up to 40cm long, rufous and brown rail. The term isabelline refers to the colouration. It is the largest member of the genus Amaurornis...
, Isabelline Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
The Isabelline Wheatear, Oenanthe isabellina, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae....
and Isabelline Shrike
Isabelline Shrike
The Isabelline Shrike is a member of the shrike family . It is the eastern equivalent of the Red-backed Shrike with which it used to be considered conspecific....
. The Himalayan Brown Bear
Himalayan Brown Bear
The Himalayan Brown Bear , also known as the Himalayan Red Bear, Isabelline Bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the Brown Bear. The bear is thought to be the source of the legend of the Yeti....
(Ursus arctos isabellinus), named subspecifically
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
for its sandy colour, is sometimes known as the Isabelline Bear.
Genetics
Melanin
Melanin is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms . In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms...
resulting in areas of plumage, normally black, being strongly faded, or isabelline, in appearance. Isabellinism has been reported in several species of penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
.
In horses, this colour is created by the action of the cream gene
Cream gene
The cream gene is responsible for a number of horse coat colors. Horses that have the cream gene in addition to a base coat color that is chestnut will become palomino if they are heterozygous, having one copy of the cream gene, or cremello, if they are homozygous. Similarly, horses with a bay...
, a type of incomplete dominant
Dominance relationship
Dominance in genetics is a relationship between two variant forms of a single gene, in which one allele masks the effect of the other in influencing some trait. In the simplest case, if a gene exists in two allelic forms , three combinations of alleles are possible: AA, AB, and BB...
dilution gene
Dilution gene
Dilution gene is a popular term for any one of a number of genes that act to create a lighter coat color in living creatures. There are many examples of such genes:-General:...
that produces a horse with a gold coat and dark eyes when heterozygous, and a light cream-coloured horse with blue eyes when homozygous.
Myths and origins
According to popular legend, the name comes from Isabella, Archduchess of AustriaInfanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain
Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert. In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia...
(1566–1633), daughter of Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
(1527–1598). Her husband, Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Archduke Albert VII of Austria was, jointly with his wife, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, ruling the Habsburg territories in the southern Low Countries and the north of modern France...
(1559–1621) laid siege to Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
in July 1601 and Isabella, expecting a quick victory, vowed not to change her underwear until the city was taken. The siege lasted a little over three years (ending in September 1604) and her underwear understandably became discoloured in the interval.
This origin is demonstrably false, as the word was in use before 1601. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's wardrobe inventory included one rounde gowne of Isabella-colour satten [...] set with silver bangles. A more plausible, though probably still false, version refers to the much earlier Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
, the Catholic (1451–1504) and the eight-month siege of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
by Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
(1452–1516). This siege ended in January 1492 and again resulted in overworn underwear belonging to Isabella.
In French (isabelle) and German (Isabella), the colour refers to a cremello or palomino
Palomino
Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" base coat...
horse. The name may derived from the Arabic word izah meaning "lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
" and, by extension, lion-coloured.
Popular culture
- An isabella palomino stallion called Thowra and his descendants starred in the series The Silver BrumbyThe Silver BrumbyThe Silver Brumby was an Australian animated children's television series written by Jon Stephens and Judy Malmgren based on Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby books...
by Elyne MitchellElyne MitchellElyne Mitchell, OAM was an Australian author noted for the Silver Brumby series of children's novels...
See also
- Animal colourationAnimal colourationAnimal coloration is the general appearance of an animal resulting from the reflection or emission of light from its surfaces. The mechanisms for colour production in animals include pigments, chromatophores, structural coloration, and bioluminescence....
- Equine coat color geneticsEquine coat color geneticsEquine coat color genetics determine a horse's coat color. There are many different coat colors possible, but all colors are produced by the action of only a few different genes. The simplest genetic default color of all domesticated horses can be described as either "red" or "non-red", depending...
- List of colours