Edo Colour Palette

Colours sampled from three Edo-period artworks seen at the British Museum Samurai exhibition, 1 Mar 2026. Pigments: mineral verdigris (rokusho), iron-gall ink (sumi), cinnabar vermillion, Prussian blue (bero-ai), yellow ochre. These are the raw sampled values — a starting point for remapping Bristlenose's token system.

Colour Analysis

1 Handscroll — Visit of Korean Ambassadors to Edo Castle

Tosa School, c. 1790–1810

Dominated by a distinctive soft blue-green (verdigris / rokusho) on the tatami and floor areas. This is paired with:

Warm tan/gold for the architectural woodwork and beams
Deep indigo and black on the officials' robes
Rich crimson/vermillion on select garments (the central figure in blue being the most vivid accent)
Cream/buff background paper showing through clouds
Muted earth tones — browns and ochres on the wooden structure

The palette is restrained and courtly, typical of Tosa school narrative painting. The blue-green dominates perhaps 40% of the visible surface.

2 Triptych woodblock — Night Attack of the 47 Ronin

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1830s

Much more dynamic and saturated:

Snow white — the largest single area, creating dramatic negative space
Black — the ronin's distinctive striped surcoats (black-and-white chevron pattern)
Deep Prussian blue — sky, distant hills, shadows on snow
Vermillion/red — temple architecture, gate posts, scattered clothing
Grey-green — pine trees under snow
Yellow-gold accents in cartouches and name labels

High contrast palette — the black chevron pattern against white snow is the signature visual motif.

3 Triptych woodblock — Ghosts of the Taira at Daimotsu Bay

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1845

The most atmospheric of the three:

Deep indigo/Prussian blue — the enormous wave dominates the right half, grading from near-black to vivid blue
Slate grey — the stormy sky, with ghostly figures rendered in dark charcoal/smoky black silhouettes
Brown/russet — the ship's hull and masts
Off-white/cream — the billowing sail, wave foam
Scattered vermillion/red — cartouche seals, small garment accents
Muted blue and teal on the warriors' armour

This piece uses value (light/dark contrast) more than hue variety. The blue wave and grey sky account for roughly 60–70% of the surface area, giving it a moody, nocturnal feel.

Common threads across all three: vermillion red as accent, Prussian blue/indigo as a structural colour, and cream/buff paper tone as breathing space. The Tosa school painting is warmer and more muted; the two Kuniyoshi ukiyo-e prints push contrast and saturation much harder, typical of late-Edo commercial woodblock printing.

Combination Previews

How these colours work as bg + text + accent combinations.

Washi Cream + Court Indigo

"The moderator asked about their onboarding experience and three participants immediately raised friction with the signup flow."

Verdigris accent

Snow White + Prussian Blue

"I expected it to save automatically, but it didn't. I lost about twenty minutes of work."

Vermillion accent

Sumi Black + Sail Parchment

"Once I figured out the shortcut, it completely changed how I use the tool. It's like night and day."

Verdigris accent

Court Indigo + Washi Cream

"The dashboard gives me everything I need at a glance. I check it every morning before standup."

Gold Ochre accent

Snow White + Sumi Black

"It's not confusing exactly, it's more that I don't know what's supposed to happen next."

Wave Indigo accent

Wave Indigo + Snow White

"I've tried three competitors and this is the first one where I actually finished the task."

Gold Ochre accent

Current Token		Edo Candidate	Notes
`--bn-colour-bg`	→	Snow White `#F5F0E6`	Warm paper background (or Washi Cream for warmer)
`--bn-colour-text`	→	Sumi Black `#1A1A1A`	Already identical — carbon ink black
`--bn-colour-muted`	→	Storm Slate `#5A7D9B`	Atmospheric grey-blue vs neutral grey
`--bn-colour-accent`	→	Prussian Blue `#1E3A5F`	Bero-ai — may need lighter tint for links
`--bn-colour-accent`	→	Verdigris `#7BA8A0`	Alternative: distinctive, calmer, more unique
`--bn-colour-border`	→	Sail Parchment `#D4C9A8`	Warm border (strong) — may want 50% tint
Sentiment colours (frustration, confidence, etc.) would need separate mapping — those are functional, not aesthetic

Seen in person at the Samurai exhibition, British Museum, 1 Mar 2026. Source artworks: British Museum (1881,1210,0.260); Metropolitan Museum of Art (Kuniyoshi, Ghosts of the Taira). Hex values are approximate — sampled by eye from photographs taken at the exhibition, not measured from pigments.

Colour Analysis

1 Handscroll — Visit of Korean Ambassadors to Edo Castle

2 Triptych woodblock — Night Attack of the 47 Ronin

3 Triptych woodblock — Ghosts of the Taira at Daimotsu Bay

Korean Ambassadors — Tosa School

Night Attack — Forty-Seven Ronin

Ghosts of the Taira — Daimotsu Bay

Combination Previews