Still+Life+with+an+Ebony+Box



http://mrl.li/16SQalA NOTES for the teacher
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 Norton, Marcy. "Tasting Empire: Chocolate and the European Internalization of Mesoamerican Aesthetics." //The American Historical Review// 111.3 (2006): 660-91. Print Antonio de Pereda, //Still Life with an Ebony Chest// (1652). This masterpiece (which is reproduced in color on the cover) is dedicated to New World sensory delights.  the two in front are made of Iberian ceramics,
 * Figure 5: **
 * On the left is a //chocolatera//, in which chocolate paste and sugar were dissolved together.
 * The //molinillo// for frothing chocolate is to its right.
 * On the tray below are three kinds of //jícaras// (chocolate-drinking cups);

 the one in back is likely a porcelain piece imported from Asia.  Oil on canvas, 80 x 94 cm. Collection of William Coesvelt, Britain, 1815.  Reproduced courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
 * The spoon—a conventional element in early modern chocolate still lifes—was probably meant to scoop the foam off the top, a European variant of the tortoiseshell spoons used by Mesoamericans for the same purpose.
 * On the right, wooden containers contain cacao paste, and a clump of white sugar is ready for use.
 * Among the vessels sitting on top of the chest is another //jícara//, a splendidly decorated gourd imported from New Spain.
 * Biscuits, favored for eating alongside chocolate, rest in the foreground.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The chest could have been a storehouse for the cacao; the lock and key remind viewers of the value of its luxurious contents.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The painting also illustrates another American-inflected sensory tradition: the red ceramic vessels, probably manufactured in Tonolá (outside Guadalajara in New Spain) and known as //búcaros//, were celebrated for the aromatic earthy qualities they imparted to water.