Storied Colors
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Today’s Color Wednesday, 17th June<br>Cobalt Blue<br>No. 049<br>First documented 1802<br>Source CoAl₂O₄<br>Origin Paris, France<br>Era 1802 – present<br>Hex #0047AB
Read today’s entry Active (CoAl₂O₄)<br>The Color Index An ongoing index, est. 2026
One color a day, told as it ought to be told: with its provenance, its chemistry, and the people who paid for it in poison.
Every pigment in this catalogue has a paper trail. Where it was first ground, in whose workshop, on whose canvas it dried, when it was banned, what replaced it. We do not invent provenance and we do not edit out the unflattering parts.
New entries arrive each Sunday at 06:00 GMT. Older entries are continually amended as conservation laboratories publish corrections.
252<br>Entries indexed · expanding
1,160<br>Citations
This Week’s Specimens<br>Curator’s notes · 15th to 21st June
From the desk of the curator<br>Plate 093<br>No. 093 Tang dynasty<br>Imperial Yellow<br>Mineral · Warm · Saturated<br>The exclusive yellow of Chinese emperors from the Tang dynasty onward, forbidden by sumptuary law to anyone outside the imperial family.
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Plate 097<br>No. 097 c. 1600<br>Indian Yellow<br>Animal · Warm · Dark<br>A glowing yellow made in Bengal from the urine of cows fed only mango leaves, reportedly outlawed for animal cruelty around 1908.
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Plate 098<br>No. 098 c. 2000 BCE<br>Indigo<br>Plant · Cool · Dark<br>The plant-vat blue of denim, Tuareg robes, and Japanese samurai jackets, whose colonial plantation history triggered the 1859 Bengal Indigo Revolt.
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Recent Acquisitions Six newest of 252 entries
No. 253 1936<br>Uranium Red<br>#D7350F
No. 252 c. 1145<br>Chartres Blue<br>#1F3F8E
No. 251 2016<br>Pinkest Pink<br>#FF1493
No. 250 1834<br>Zinc White<br>#FAFAFA
No. 249 2009<br>YInMn Blue<br>#2E5090
No. 248 Palaeolithic<br>Yellow Ochre<br>#CB9D06
The Collection at a Glance Browse all 252 →<br>096 005 175 184 224 111 154 100 147 153 214 085 040 237 151 044 067 226 131 116 023 058 252 094 016 167 124 234 227 188 187 179 202 038 205 242 233 123 122 +213 more
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© Storied Colors · MMXXVI
Set in Cormorant Garamond & Source Serif
252 entries indexed