Zaffre (also spelt Zaffer), a

prescientific __NOTOC__ In the philosophy of science, there are several definitions of protoscience. Its simplest meaning (most closely reflecting its roots of ''proto-'' + ''science'') involves the earliest eras of the history of science, when the scientific me ...

, or alchemical substance, is a deep blue

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

obtained by roasting

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

, and is made of either an impure form of cobalt oxideClayArt
/ref> or impure cobalt arsenate. During the

Victorian Era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, zaffre was used to prepare

smalt Cobalt glass—known as "smalt" when ground as a pigment—is a deep blue coloured glass prepared by including a cobalt compound, typically cobalt oxide or cobalt carbonate, in a glass melt. Cobalt is a very intense colouring agent and very litt ...

and to stain glass blue. The first recorded use of ''zaffer'' as a color name in English was sometime in the 1550s (exact year uncertain).Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 207; Color Sample of Zaffer: Page 109 Plate 43 Color Sample D11

References

Inorganic pigments Shades of blue {{Inorganic-compound-stub

See also

References