In the nerdiest way possible, I love looking through the colour archives of Vintage Printable. Curating out-of-copyright scientific illustration, the site has a large collection of fascinating old paint and textile swatches, book scans and pretty much every other colour relic under the sun. If you are working on a project with a specific era colour theme in mind, this site would be a wonderful resource for finding hues that dominated the time period. Notice how the late 1800′s/early 1900′s swatches are focused on warm oranges, yellows, greens browns and pastels? I think some of these pieces would look great framed on a studio wall (particularly those American Ornithology and Gemstone charts at top). Looking through the collection highlights that colour may sometimes be pure decoration and beauty but many times, it also serves a substantial and vital scientific role.

From top:
1.) American Ornithology Chart, 1901.
2.) Colour chart of gems and minerals, Lewis Feuchtwanger 1867.
3.) Tertiary colour details, no year.
4.) Town and Country paint colours, 1872.
5.) Textile dye scans, 1907.
6.) Textile colour dye information, no year.
7.) A color combination chart for layered clothing, no year.
8.) Text Books of Art Education, 1905 Prang Educational Company.