In Service to Chocolate

French King Louis Philippe I (1773–1850) commissioned this ornate service for his Queen Marie-Amélie (1782–1866). It was manufactured in 1836, six years after the Second French (July) Revolution (when Charles X was ousted, and Louis Philippe was proclaimed king). And the service would continue to be presumably well enjoyed for at least another twelve years, until Louis Philippe abdicated during the February 1848 Revolution.

What is unusual about this coffee service is that it depicts, in great apparently accurate historical detail, scenes of cacao cultivation and the preparation of hot chocolate. On the milk jug, you can see the ladies about to enjoy their drinks. The source link in the caption below enables you to zoom in if you wish.

By the way, it was Dutch technology that led the way toward the making of chocolate as we know it today.

Multiple artists, Sèvres Manufactory. Partial Coffee Service. 1836. Hard-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels, gold. Image in public domain: Source

Close up of the motifs which were made to evoke Aztec design. Source

For worlds of chocolate glorification –
the silky tongue-ribbon countries will fight
for – trade abundance. Hot chocolate delight –

extracted fee of colonisation.
Cacao cultivation; crops deemed too slight
for worlds of chocolate glorification.
The silky tongue-ribbon countries will fight

to conquer with industrialisation.
Cacao press splits fat from cake, an outright
revolution in production: fire-light
for worlds of chocolate glorification.
The silky tongue-ribbon countries will fight
for. Trade abundance. Hot. Chocolate. Delight.

©elsp 2026

The form is an English madrigal. More of my ekphrastic poetry here.

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In Service to Chocolate – A Poem