W.G. & Co. chocolate pot hand-painted, signed M.E.A. Jan. 8, 1896, with two cups and saucers from the set. 0.1171
It is not known for certain if Mary Baker Eddy consumed chocolate in solid forms, but there is ample evidence that Eddy and members of her household drank cocoa. Many reminiscences and correspondence in the collections record that cocoa was a beverage that was served and drunk by Eddy. Among the items in the collections from Eddy’s homes are several chocolate pots for serving cocoa, including the two shown in this article.
When Col. Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle (1896-1961) was a young boy in private school in Concord, New Hampshire, he was among four boys selected to pay a personal call on Mary Baker Eddy at her Pleasant View home. In his reminiscence of that day, Col. Biddle recalled Eddy’s gentleness and genuine interest in the boys, asking about their interests, school work and families. He recalled that about halfway through the one-hour visit, Eddy said, “Now I’ll brew you something to drink.” The refreshment turned out to be hot chocolate, about which Biddle said “Mrs. Eddy prepared the chocolate herself with all the care and precision so characteristic of her.” 1
Dining room at Pleasant View, with Cauldon chocolate set shown above. P06266
We have breakfast at 7.00 A.M., dinner at 12.00 noon, and our supper at six o’clock in the evening. Will that suit you? Do you drink coffee or tea? Because if you do, you won’t get any here. We don’t have either. We drink cocoa shells,-it is a real nice drink and our faithful cook serves it good and hot. 2
With the development of cocoa powder and solid chocolate, the popularity of cocoa and hot chocolate drinks grew. Along with this something of an industry emerged in the production of items specifically for serving the beverage. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, elaborate chocolate services came into fashion. Companies such as Noritake, Doulton, and Wedgwood produced fine china sets comprised of pots, trays, cups and saucers. China painting was a popular activity for Victorian women, and companies produced undecorated china “blanks”, including chocolate pots, that could be painted at home.
Chocolate pots are different from coffee and tea pots. Early chocolate pots had a handle that stuck straight out from the side, and the spout was often near the bottom of the pot. Later chocolate pots had handles similar to coffee pots but are distinguishable from coffee pots by the short spout high on the body of the pot. The high spout prevented remainders of cocoa butter that settled to the bottom from clogging the spout.
In a letter to Joseph and Mary E. Armstrong dated February 4, 1896, Eddy begins, “I want to thank you again for your kindness to me and the beautiful addition to my exquisite chocolate set….”3
The chocolate pot below is hand-painted around the body with six different types of flowers. Each of the six cups and saucers in the set is painted with one of the six types of flowers. It is part of a set that was a gift to Eddy from Mary E. Armstrong, and the hand-painting is attributed to Armstrong.
Cauldon chocolate pot, c.1896, with two cups and saucers from the set. 0.1177
