A colour name popular in use since the beginning of the nineteenth century standardised here at the request of many colour using industries.
This colour is found in Chinese imperial wares of the sung period (A.D 960-1279) and is said to be typical of that ‘blue as the sky after rain seen through the rift in the clouds,’ described by T’Ao Shuo in the 18th century.
A colour found in Genoese fabrics of the 16th Century.
By the mid 15th Century the silk industry had become the largest employer in Genoa, but the growth of this industry was particularly strong in the 16th century.
Two kinds of Genoese silk fabrics were very highly reputed in Europe: silk fabric woven with silver and gold threads and teciopelo (triple velvet).
