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I don't know what Torres' dyes were made of, and I speculate he bought his veneer from an outfit that dyed veneer for furniture or box makers. And it's very likely it could have been a nasty chemical you may not want to mess with. Napoleon died as a result of being poisoned by the green dye in the wall paper in his room when he spent his last days bedridden in exile. A great many of the greens used for wood and textile and decorative dying were created form Cupric Arsonite, or Copper Arsonite, basically Arsenic based greens. The other greens were made of plants, like Woad. Other greens were made with Chromium Oxide, but both Woad and Chrome Oxide greens are rather dull. There is also Viridian greens, the emerald colored greens. But not likely emerald greens used to make dye. I think most of the greens that are light fast were copper derived greens.
After the 1870's a whole new group of pigments and dues were developed out of a coal tar processing method. The are less volatile to use. But green has always been the hex of colors, in painting and textile dying. Greens have always looked false, or 'chintczy'. And making a green from Blues and Yellows is usually one of the best solutions.
Top dying a good blue over a string yellow will make a better green than using a premixed green dye. Take the white veneer strips and dye them yellow. Rinse them well, let them stand a whole, but don't mordent them. Then put them in a dye bath of blue and 'top dye' the blue into the strips. He result will be a more clear strident green.
A tip, use a super bright yellow like light chrome yellow, high in intensity but light in the spectrum. Then use a light blue that favors the Cerulian and Ultra Marine colors over the Prussian Blue look. Or a light Cobalt type blue. Dye companies like Ritt dyes in the US have made up colors like Light Blue and Sky Blue, those 'sky' like colors are good for top dyes. The heavy dark blues will make brooding dark greens even top dyed over a screaming yellow.
Clarity, you get it from not making the dye bath too intense. Add dye gradually if you are not getting enough color.
I have done a lot of dying and had success with Ritt dye in an open pot, some metals will interact with some dyes. An enameled pot will not. I like to boil the veneer in plain water with a few pinches of laundry detergent as a surfactant. I think it helps to pre moisten the inside of the veneer and keeps the dye from clogging up. Then dye with a sceaming bright yellow until the dye saturates through the veneer. Tough maple will be harder to saturate to the core, Holly or English Sycamore easier. Then Rinse in cold water and get the loose dye water off the outside of the veneer strips. Top dye in a light blue bath until the material is saturated to the center of the veneer. The Ritt dyes are self mordanting, but you can cook the strips in salt water if you like. But rinse well.
If you want muddy green golds, which if done right can be stunning, then use yellow ochre and top dye with light blue. What ever color you see in Torres work, just aim at that color.
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