Jug

Originally made to hold cider, this jug was used to serve drinking chocolate in the style of wealthy patrons from colonial Mexico. Cacao, indigenous to the region, was mixed with water, spices, and honey. The production of cacao among other crops native to the Americas fueled the global expansion of European colonialism. This jug was used by persons who made their wealth off a trade that continues to have repercussions today.

Cider jug (a); barrel-shaped body, with separate cover (b). Cross-strapped handle attached to body with leaf decoration. Circular sepia medallion on each side of center body showing architectural view, polychrome floral and fruit bands on upper part of body and on lid. Gilded lion finial. Gilded ground. CONDITION: Chipped.

VESSELS FOR CHOCOLATE
In New Spain and in the Caribbean, chocolate was the preferred elite beverage. An Italian traveler in the late eighteenth century noted that “all over the kingdom of Mexico it is the practice to drink chocolate twice a day.... The first [time] is early in the morning—many times they drink it in bed. The second time it is taken is around [4 p.m.].”

Before the ...