Cobalt blue
Cobalt blue in impure forms had long been used in Chinese porcelain, but it was independently discovered as a pure alumina-based pigment by Louis Jacques Thénard in 1802. Commercial production began in France in 1807. The first recorded use of "cobalt blue" as a color name in English was in 1777. The leading world manufacturer of cobalt blue in the 19th century was Benjamin Wegner's Norwegian company Blaafarveværket ("blue colour works" in Dano-Norwegian). Germany was also famous for production, especially the blue colour works ("Blaufarbenwerke") in the Ore Mountains of Saxony.
Yellow-collared lovebird
The blue mutation was originally found in wild birds in the 1920s and is the oldest colour mutation known in the lovebird genus. The other mutations are a result of selective breeding in aviculture, such as two cobalts which will make a mauve (black). Various color mutations exist, including blue, cobalt, mauve, slate, dilute slate, violet, lutino (ino) and albino.