Description:
Baluster-shaped copper chocolate pot with a plain copper lid formed from a sheet of copper with a center circular hole and fitted over the outside of the pot's rim; sides tapering to a swelled base with a softly-rounded shoulder and flared foot; an iron strap handle terminating in a closed loop, which is splayed into a shaped flange attached to the side of the pot with two copper rivets and extends at a slight angle upward from the side; and a a line of soldering where the curved piece of copper is attached to itself by means of dovetails along the seam soldered with spleter (a mixture of brass and lead). The hole in the center of the cover is for the insertion of the chocolate mill or molinet (a turned wooden stick for frothing and mixing the chocolate); this chocolate pot appears to retain its original chocolate mill or molinet, which has a long thin wooden handle with an attached round, thick circular disk with verical notches or blades and is perfectly sized for the diameter of the opening. Chocolate was a beverage drunk in early America and in Deerfield, primarily taken for breakfast or as a meal replacement for the elderly or infirm. In 1756 Major Elijah Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts, purchased 40 lbs. of chocolate at 10 shillings per lb. from a Boston merchant;.he also purchased equal amounts of tea at 37 shillings, 6 pence per lb. and coffee at 8 shillings per lb. There are also account book references to the purchase of chocolate by Lucy Terry, an enslaved African- American owned by Ebenezer Wells in Deerfield; the chocolate may have been used at his tavern which Wells kept within his residence. The preparation of chocolate was a very involved and time-consuming process, quite unlike today’s ready-mix. According to an English source, some people "boil [the chocolate] in water and sugar, others mix half water and half milk and boil it, then added powdered chocolate to it and boil them together; others add wine and water." "Be sure whilst it is boiling to keep it stirring, and when it is off the fire, whir it with your hand mill [the stick used for stirring the thick chocolate mixture]. That is, it must be mixed in a deep pot of Tin, copper or stone, with a cover with a hole in the middle of it, for the handle of the mill to come out at, or without a cover. This being whirled between your hands, whilst the pot is over the fire, and raises a head of froth over it. Then pour it out for use in small dishes for that purpose. You must add a convenient quantity of sugar to the mixture."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2008.20 |
