Chocolate pot

Esaias Busch III

1718–20 · Gilt silver, wood · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This gilt-silver chocolate pot reflects the high quality of goldsmith's work in Augsburg in the early eighteenth century. The engraved decoration is particularly fine, consisting of interlaced ornamental bands on a matte ground. On three of the lower cartouches, the scrollwork bands form a frame that encloses fanciful depictions of Far Eastern natives in exotic dress. This type of engraved decoration is typical of Augsburg silver at this time, as are the ribbed sides and the application of overall gilding to the silver surface.

Artist

Esaias Busch III

Date

1718–20

Medium

Gilt silver, wood

Culture

German, Augsburg

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, 1973