Art & History of Cacao

  • Bad Colonial Chocolate

        Did you know that Thomas Jefferson was a fan of the good ol’ cacao crop? He even predicted its soon-to-grow popularity as a result of its nour...
  • Gifting Chocolate at Christmas

      From Yule Logs to St Nick, and even what we know as advent calendars in this day and age can all be traced back in one way or another to chocola...
  • The Chocolate Girl

    The Chocolate Girl (1745) by Jean-Étienne Liotard is one of the most recognizable paintings that emerged when the chocolate craze took over Europe...
  • Hot Cocoa on Front Lines

      From its origins in Mesoamerica all the way to the European forces in both World Wars, chocolate has served as both compensation and fuel for wa...
  • Chocolate Box Art

      One of the first chocolate manufacturers to bring about this trend that would later be known as chocolate box art was Cadbury, who he himself wo...
  • Cacao Harvest by Candido Portinari (1954)

      A painting that encapsulates Brazilian modernism in art, Cocoa Harvest (1954) uses a composition of blue and green tones with a light dab of red...
  • Tito Vitaminas Choco Milk

      Here is a 1940s advertisement used in Mexico to promote cold chocolate milk for kids instead of the customary hot beverage. Specifically highl...
  • Cacao Suchard Tin Can

    Advertisements on tin cans were one of the most effective marketing methods used back in the day! This particular example is of cacao sold by Such...
  • Drinks Made From Cacao

      Did you know that cacao beans were used as currency in pre-colonial Mesoamerica at one point? In fact, they held so much value in Mesoamerican cu...
  • Early Cacao Depiction

      The Los Angeles County Museum  of Art has a collection of ancient Mayan vessels that portrays a depiction and history of cacao that goes back hun...
  • Palanda Archeological Site in Ecuador

    The origins of cacao begin in the southeastern region of Ecuador! Palanda, to be exact, where archeological evidence found in these spirals prove ...
  • Introduction to Art & History of Cacao

    If you are looking to learn more about the art and history of cacao, then you have come to the right place! In this section, we have a constantly ...