Cobalt blue

Cobalt blue is a cool blue colour. People used to make it using cobalt salts. Cobalt blue is used widely by artists. Many pieces of glassware have this colour--glassware that does have this colour is called cobalt glass.

This box shows the color cobalt blue.

The first written use of cobalt blue as a colour name in English was in 1777.^[1]

Meaning of cobalt blue

• John Varley suggested cobalt blue as a good substitution for ultramarine blue for painting skies.
• Maxfield Parrish, famous partly for the intensity of his skyscapes, used cobalt blue, and cobalt blue is sometimes called Parrish blue as a result.
• Cobalt blue was the primary blue pigment used in Chinese blue and white porcelain for centuries, beginning in the late 8th or early 9th century.^[2]

Tones of cobalt blue colour comparison chart

Name	Color	HEX Code	Red	Green	Blue	Hue	Sat	Lum	Source
Cobalt blue		#0047AB	0	71	171	215°	100%	34%
Zaffre		#0014AB	0	20	171	233°	100%	34%
Smalt		#003399	0	51	63	220°	100%	30%	(Dark Powder Blue)
Spanish Cobalt Blue		#00438A	0	67	138	211°	100%	27%	Cobalt Blue (Gallego & Sanz)
Thenard Blue		#333C87	51	60	135	234°	45%	36%	Gallego & Sanz

Related pages

• List of colors

References

1. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 91; Color Sample of Cobalt Blue: Page 131 Plate 34 Color Sample L7
2. "Chinese visual arts » Stylistic and historical development, 1206–1912 » Yüan dynasty (1206–1368) » Ceramics." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 14 May 2009.