Colorists and laboratories The development of the work of the colorist in the Dutch textile industry. The colorist(or textile chemist) in the middle of the nineteenth century was the person, who was responsable for nearly all the technical aspects in the calico-printing works. His work included the testing and examination of dye-stuffs and other chemicals, quality-control, trouble-shooting and in some cases research. An embryonic laboratory was required at least for some of these tasks. One of the first industrial laboratories in the Dutch industry was attached to the calico-printing works of Previnaire & Co in Haarlem, mainly for the testing of dye-stuffs. Developments at the printing works of De Heyder & Co in Leiden show, that some of the many tasks became clearly separated and systematically tackled by the first colorist, Felix Driessen. who was educated abroad. Also, Driessen increasingly did researchwork. Comparable developments at Van Vlissingen & Co in Helmond during World War 1 resulted in the engagement of university trained chemists with a further separation of tasks. These chemists conducted analytical work mainly, but soon they obtained their own laboratory, distinct from the coloristic lab. This ended the continuing process of differentiation and specialization which characterized the development of coloristic work.