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.
Dark budgerigar mutation
The first Cobalts were bred by Mon. Blanchard in 1920, and by George F Hedges in 1923 while he was the aviary attendant for Madame Lecallier in France. These were initially called "Powder Blues". Some of these latter Cobalts were purchased by Mrs Dalton Burgess and imported to England. She exhibited one (as a "Royal Blue") in February 1924 at the Crystal Palace and later that year bred the first Mauves from them. She called the Mauves "French Greys" in nest feather, and when adult they were known as "Lilacs" or "Lavenders".