Cobalt is my favorite color especially in glassware. I am a glass lover to begin with because of the way any color is so vibrant in glass. But when it comes down to it, I just love cobalt. Cobalt glassware is so distinctive and elegant in color, and is a perfect setting for fine dining.

I like to collect cobalt glassware of all types, but lately I have been investigating cobalt depression glassware, and other cobalt antique glassware.

Just to take a side step for a minute, if you look at the picture above, you can see why cobalt is so distinctive in glass. The color really shows up well and looks great. This glass above is a Bormioli Rocco Murano Beverage Glass which is a modern glass made with cobalt. It shows the color flowing through the glass well. Modern glassware stylistically is very different from vintage and antique glassware, but many of the techniques to make glass are still the same. Glass has very unique qualities because it is a solid and a liquid, so it means that the methods to form glass have not changed much over the centuries.

In this article, I am going to share what I like about cobalt blue glassware. I do not want you to think that I am a glassware expert, just that I am sharing my love of cobalt glassware.

Cobalt blue is a very costly and extraordinary stable pigment of pure blue colour discovered by Thénard in 1802. It is now the most important of the cobalt pigments. It has been used in glassware throughout history to this day, and you can see why, it is just striking.

Cobalt blue glassware was one of the colors used during the making of depression glassware in the 1930's and 1940's.  Glassware was made differently back then, with molds and pressing the glass into the molds.  Many of the designs famous in depression glass cannot be made today.

If you are looking for cobalt depression glassware, it is very hard to find in antique shops.  Other colors of depression glass are more available, but you can still find in on the internet.  Ebay is a great place to look.  I have listed some findings on this article.  Much of the popular collectible pieces of cobalt depression glassware were made by the Hazel Atlas Glass Company.

Cobalt blue sea glass primarily comes from old medicine bottles which were made in dark glass to help keep medicines from deteriorating due to sunlight.  Phillips Milk of Magnesia, Noxema, Bromo Seltzer, even Alka Seltzer used to come in a tall blue glass tube. Many medicines and even poisons were bottled in cobalt blue glass. One of the more rare colors of sea glass colors is very hard to find on beaches now.

1 In 200 - 300 Sea Glass Pieces Found Will Be Cobalt Blue.

Bristol Blue Glass is both a style and a manufacturer.  Bristol blue glass comes from Bristol in Britain from the time of the 1600's.  Cobalt was imported from Saxony, and blown into medicine bottles.  At the time, the color blue was associated with wealth, so the Bristol Merchant Venturers adopted it as their symbol.  That was the beginning of the name, "Bristol Blue."

When lead crystal was patented, glass makers combined the new lead crystal with cobalt, to perfect a high quality blue glass.  This became known as Bristol Blue no matter where it was made.

Signed pieces of the Bristol Blue glass are now considered valuable by collectors.

I hope that have enjoyed this eclectic collection of some of my favorite cobalt glassware. I will be adding to it as I find more information and items, so keep checking back. Which ones are your favorites?