18th Century Chocolate
Additional Resources
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The Domestick Coffee-Man, Shewing The True Way of Preparing and Making of Chocolate, Coffee and Tea (1722)
The Natural History of Chocolate (1724)
Of the Chocolate-Maker, The parent’s and guardian’s directory, 1761
Recipes for chocolate cream and chocolate in The Experienced English Housekeeper (1786, but these recipes appear in earlier editions)
The Recipes Project: Chocolate
A Cup of Hot Chocolate, S’good for What Ails Ya
The “American Nectar”: William Hughes’s hot chocolate, and Rebeckah Winche’s Chacolet
Chocolate Cream: How to make George Washington’s favored breakfast drink
Last updated: Feb 25, 2024
While we tend to think of 18th century chocolate consumption to be limited to drinking hot chocolate, there are also recipes for chocolate-flavored sweets. This page includes illustrations of people drinking chocolate as well as links to 18th century chocolate recipes.
Drinking chocolate
Most of these illustrations show chocolate served as a morning beverage – often served upon waking up in the morning.
- Un cavallier, et une dame beuvant du chocolat, 1690-1710
- Smaak/Le Goust, c. 1695-1724
- Young woman drinking chocolate by Jean-François de Troy, 1723
- Marriage a-la-Mode: The Toilette by William Hogarth, c. 1743
- The Morning Rose, What Shall Poor Harpax Do!, 1744
- The Chocolate Girl by Jean-Étienne Liotard, c. 1744-1745
- The Breakfast by Jean-Étienne Liotard, c. 1752
- Saint Nicholas Day in the Imperial Family of Austria, 1762
- Kitty Fleecing the Old Jew, 1764
- The Family of the Duc de Penthièvre in 1768 by Jean-Baptiste Charpentier the Elder
- Fear (La Crainte) by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, 1769
- Still Life with Chocolate Service by Luis Egidio Meléndez, 1770
- Le Bain, 1774
- The morning chocolate by Pietro Longhi
- A kitchen interior with two women, attributed to Johan Rodin
- Le Lever, 1781
- The Sultana by Charles-Amédée-Philipppe van Loo
- La Jolie Visiteuse (The Pretty Visitor) by Jean Baptiste Mallet
- Le doux entretien (Conversation), 1789
- Morning or the Reflection, 1797
Chocolate pots
Additional Resources
A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot
Chocolate Preparation and Serving Vessels in Early North America
The Silver Chocolate Pots of Colonial Boston
Chocolate Pots Brewed Ingenuity
Find 18th century chocolate pots and chocolate cups on eBay
Several features distinguish chocolate pots tfrom contemporary coffee pots or teapots; for example, the spout tends to emerge at a 90-degree angle from the handle (the better to tilt and pour), and the handle itself is often more like a long stick than a looped handle. A lid or removable finial at the top lets the you insert the mill, or molinet (a stirring stick, like Colonial Williamsburg 2003-5) to stir the chocolate before pouring it. A Monument for Tom K—g (1737) illustrates the difference between similar-looking coffee and chocolate pots.
- National Trust 852070, a silver chocolate pot with heraldic engravings, 1708
- V&A 848:1 to 3-1892, a miniature chocolate pot made by David Clayton in London c. 1710
- V&A M.1819-1944, a silver chocolate pot made by John Fawdery in London, 1714-1715
- National Trust 413487, a Chinese ceramic chocolate pot, c. 1720
- Christie’s 9587, Lot 93, a silver toy chocolate pot and molinet made by David Clayton, London, c. 1720
- V&A M.379-1927, a silver chocolate pot engraved with the arms of Willis, 1722-1723
- National Trust 1245591, a chocolate pot from a set of Meissen ceramics, c. 1735
- V&A M.242:1, 2-1976, a miniature silver chocolate pot made by John Hugh Le Sage, c. 1740
- V&A 414:101/&A-1885, a Meissen porcelain chocolate pot c. 1740 with enamel decorations probably painted in Holland c. 1750
- V&A C.335&A-1918, a Meissen porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1745
- National Trust 591600.1/591600.2, a copper chocolate pot
- V&A LOAN:GILBERT.677:1, 2-2008, a silver chocolate pot made by Samuel Courtauld in London, 1750-1751
- Louvre OAP 899, a three-footed silver chocolate pot engraved with the heraldry of Claude-François Baulard d’Angirey, made in 1756
- Louvre OAP 904, a silver chocolate pot with three feet formed as deer hooves, made by Pierre-François Grandguillaume
- V&A C.114&A-1911, a Meissen porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1760-1775
- V&A C.1579&A-1919, a Ludwigsburg porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1765
- V&A C.1586&A-1919, a Ludwigsburg porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1765
- V&A C.61A-1929, a Höchst porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1765-1775
- National Trust 581992, large Ludwigsburg porcelain chocolate pot on three scrolled feet, 1770
- National Trust 581993, Ansbach porcelain chocolate pot, 1770-1775
- V&A C.1633&A-1919, a porcelain chocolate pot made at Tournai and decorated at the Hague, c. 1775
- V&A 460-1875, silver chocolate pot made in London, 1777-1778
- V&A 527&A-1875, a Royal Copenhagen porcelain chocolate pot, c. 1780-1785
- National Trust 1296730, a Chinese willow pattern porcelain chocolate pot, 1790-1800
Recipes for 18th century chocolate
- From The Complete Confectioner by Hannah Glasse (1765): chocolate almonds, chocolate cream, and chocolate puffs
- From The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy (1774): How to make chocolate; Another way to make chocolate
- From The Experienced English Housekeeper (1786): Solomon’s temple in flummery, chocolate cream, chocolate puffs, chocolate
