Jicara (chocolate cup)
- unknown artist
- Royal Ceramic Factory of Alcora
Royal Ceramic Factory of Alcora, Jicara (Chocolate Cup), 1740-60. Tin glazed Earthenware; 2¾ × 2¾ in. dia. 2018.865.
Made with exotic ingredients—cacao, sugar, and spices such as cinnamon and vanilla—chocolate was initially consumed in Europe only by aristocrats and the wealthy. As cacao cultivation in the Americas increased, drinking chocolate gradually spread throughout other social strata but remained for the most part a high-status and expensive beverage. As chocolate became fashionable in the 1700s, a range of accoutrements were introduced into the market, including cups and saucers, chocolate pots, and molinets, used to keep the chocolate frothed and well-blended. Foamy chocolate was served in cups of different types; the style most sought after was a handless small cup with raised rim called a jícara, usually made of porcelain or glazed earthenware, seen here.
Founded by the ninth count of Aranda in 1727, the Alcora Ceramic Factory was the most renowned ceramic manufacturer in Spain. The company specialized in tin-glazed earthenware objects for the home, including hollowware for the chocolate service. Alcora pottery was highly prized among Spanish and American elites, and part of the production was exported to supply the demand for high-end objects for the table in the colonies. This piece was produced by the Alcora Ceramic Factory in the mid-1700s in an architectonic pattern popularly known as Andrómica or Álvaro, after Vicente Álvaro Ferrando, one of its artists.
– Jorge Rivas Pérez, Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art, 2018
