Description:
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. Conical form with attached spout, side handle, and domed lid composed of sheet copper; circular base, copper was soldered on the vertical seam with a dovetail joint, applied triangular spout with hinged cover, riveted at base of spout, applied handle at right angle to spout, heart-shaped base plate with conical hollow protrusion for turned wooden handle (detached), base plate is attached to pot with three copper rivets, turned handle is made from a dense hardwood, a pointed dumbell shape, domed lid has hole in center and straight lower flange, base edge of pot is turned under and crimped for strength, chocolate mill inside of pot is threaded through the hole in the lid, it is a long piece of turned wood (dense hardwood) with ball finial, wooden stop in center appears to be a later addition or replacement, base of chocolate mill has tinned sheet iron attachment of four flanges or wings with drilled holes to whip up the froth, mill is very rusted, dent on top of lid, tinned interior of pot is very dark, some verdigris on the rolled upper rim, base appears to have been damaged in the past, there is a large quantity of lead solder on the interior base of the pot.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2014.29.1 |
