The Chocolate party

The party take place in a garden or landscaped terrace decorated with pots of orange trees, follies, sculptures and fountains.

In the centre of this stage, marking the symmetrical axis of the entrance to the area, a circular moulded fountain held up by cherubs and topped with the figure of Cupid arises from a hexagonal pool.

Cupid is the god of amorous love and water symbolises fertility.

Cupid and water preside over the various courtly scenes that take place around them, the festivities and the ball.

Much can be learns about the habits ans tastes of the society of the time through this ceramic painting. On one hand one can observe that the clothing of the figures corresponds to Versailles court fashion during the Louis XIV period.

The women still wear a linen à la Fontanges, a doublet and a single top-skirt, a chest-piece in the centre of the body that covered the interior corset and sleeves down to the elbows decorated with embroidery.

Many of the ladies are bearing fans, an indispensible part of female attire.

The men wear a shirt with a tie, a long bodice, a buttoned dress coat, tight breeches, embroidered socks, heeled shoes and a wig and slouch hat.

The dress coats of the servants and the gentlemen seem similar but are in fact differentiated by the quality of the fabrics: the formers’ are made of corduroy and the latters’ are made of embroidered silk or wool.

Amongst all of the figures with Frenchified clothing there is one that stands out for dressing in the Spanish tradition: a figure wearing a cape and slouch hat. These two garments were abolished in 1766 via a decree from the Marquess d’Esquilache.

On the panel we can see the various tasks arried out by the lackeys: the coloured ones, arrived from the colonies, are carrying a seated lady on a palanquin...

...whilst others are servers and are pouring wine to the guests...

... who are about to taste turkey fragranced with clove, both exotic foodstuffs from the New World.

The table is laid à la Française, with the dishes served in the centre, and both the ladies and the gentlemen seem to be enjoying the conversation, showing off their culture and wit.

The central scene is presided over by the experts in the preparation of melted chocolate, the drink of the gods according to the Aztecs. It was the Spanish who imported this drink from Mexico, which they sweetened with cane sugar and it was they who spread it throughout Europe.

The panel shows the plate bearing the bars of chocolate and the portable oven with the copper chocolate pot and...

...the chocolate stands with cups, an invention by the Marquess of Mancera, viceroy of Peru in the mid-17th century.

A group of women receive their drink from the hand of the gentlemen who, following the protocol of good manners, proffer the drink with a bow.

A group of musicians lend ambience to the evening, and...

...to the sound of their notes the ladies and gentleman form a small circle and dance a courtly dance.