Arsenic: A Domestic Poison
The magnificent two storey suite at the top of the tower in our quirky Clerkenwell hotel, The Rookery, has just been reimagined by our long-standing interior designer, Jill Mellor. Much hasn’t changed, of course: the huge Victorian bathing machine still sits on a raised plinth, and a staircase still leads you upstairs to an unforgettable sitting room under the 40ft spire. But now – and not for the first time – Jill has spun a little bit of magic in The Rook’s Nest, using vibrant silk and tapestry fabrics, a hand painted four poster bed and an abundance of curios to complement the intense green hue of Puck and the rich warmth of Invisible Green.
We’re sticklers for staying true to our Georgian heritage, but our preferences when it comes to paint are decidedly 21st century. And for good reason. Back in 1778, the pigment Scheele’s Green was invented by Carl Wilhelm Scheele using copper arsenite. Being exceptionally brilliant and durable, it quickly replaced older greens based on copper carbonate. The pigment was highly sought after by paint and wallpaper manufacturers, and green tones were soon to be found everywhere, from clothing to the wallpaper in children’s nurseries.
Doubts had already been raised in Europe regarding the safety of arsenic based pigments, but they were largely ignored in Britain despite mounting evidence.
Scheele’s Green, along with its successors Emerald Green and Paris Green, were still in use almost a century later when, in 1862, East End physician Dr Thomas Orton was called to visit Amelia Turner, a three year old from Limehouse. Over the previous six weeks her parents had seen their three other children die from a mysterious illness, and were fearful of the same fate for young Amelia. Diphtheria was given as the cause of death for the three siblings, but Dr Orton began to suspect the original diagnosis to be wrong when no neighbours, or the Turner parents, caught this highly infectious disease.
Amelia died a month later, and despite evidence from Dr Letheby, a chemist at the London Hospital, proving arsenic poisoning, a court ruled that Amelia died from natural causes. Fortunately, by the end of the 19th century Scheele’s green had been made obsolete by Cobalt Green, which was zinc based and far less toxic.
