Bleu turque

The following is posted on behalf of Kristel Smentek, Curatorial
Fellow

   "I am curating an exhibition at the Frick Collection that focuses
    on a pair of cobalt-blue Chinese porcelains in 18th C French
    gilt-bronze mounts. I would be grateful if anyone could help me
    determine what kind of blue the term "bleu turque / blue Turc"
    referred to in 18th C France.  A very similar pair of mounted
    porcelains are described in an 18th century French sale
    catalogue as "bleu Turc" in color. Though I would be delighted
    if "bleu turque" meant cobalt blue, I suspect it may actually be
    the same as "blue turquin" (a more turquoise blue).

   "In the catalogue I'm especially interested in (from 1762) "bleu
    turc" is differentiated from "lapis" and from "bleu celeste"
    (all used to describe Chinese porcelain.) In one catalogue
    (1756), a Chinese porcelain is referred to as "bleu turquin."

Kristel Smentek
Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow
The Frick Collection
1 East 70th Street
New York, NY 10021
212-547-6885
Fax: 212-628-4417


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:31
                Distributed: Saturday, December 9, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-20-31-023
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