Copper Chocolatera - Group 3

3D Model

Chocolate Pots were a luxury imported to Alta California from Spain for high-ranking military officials and missionary clergymen (Popper, 2016). Native Californians were able to enjoy this delicacy on special occasions, such as Easter (Graham, 2016). Spices and ingredients such as sugar, cinnamon and vanilla were mixed into the chocolate. Pots were made out of silver, copper or porcelain (Graham, 2016). Only 20 of these pots were ordered from 1777-1820 for the Mission of Santa Clara (Graham, 2016). Some of these pots were recovered from Native neighborhoods at the Mission of Santa Clara.

Sources:

Graham, M.A., Skowronek, R.K. “Chocolate on the Borderlands of New Spain” Int J Histor Archaeol 20, 645–665 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-016-0370-5

Popper, Virginia S. “Change and Persistence: Mission Neophyte Foodways at Selected Colonial Alta California Institutions” JSTOR Archives, (2016). https://www.jstor.org/stable/45155062