Chocolate, Coffee, Tea

The introduction of these three beverages into seventeenth-century Europe resulted from the sustained contacts of the seagoing nations and direct trade with formerly unreachable parts of the world, such as Mexico, Arabia, and China. A great variety of new utensils were developed to serve the new drinks, first for great households and quickly thereafter for the popular market. The Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts has drawn on its large collection to illustrate this theme.