The distinctive pale blue ground, sometimes known as petit verd, was used at Sèvres for a comparatively short time between 1759/60 and 1763. It is lighter in tone than the more widely produced bleu céleste (turquoise blue). The two colours were often not differentiated in the Sèvres records, as only subtle differences in tone separate them.

The uneven ground colour, a clouded bleu céleste, is an attribute particularly associated with the early ground colours of Vincennes porcelain. The colour was first introduced at the manufactory in 1753 for the first major dinner service commissioned by Louis XV. Initially it proved particularly difficult for the manufactory to obtain a more even-toned colour, in emulation of Chinese and Meissen porcelain. However, in later years the smoother turquoise blue, such as that of the pair of vases Adélaïde, became standard. Throughout the eighteenth century it was the most expensive ground colour produced at Sèvres. The unevenness in colour of the early wares came to be regarded among connoisseurs and collectors of Sèvres as a desirable quality.