This majolica-style ceramic jar was manufactured in Mexico and inspired by pieces produced at Talavera de la Reine in Spain. The jar was used to store the precious commodity of chocolate and is equipped with a copper ferule collar and hinged locking cover. Cobalt blue glazes are distinctive of Talavera ceramics. Blue was an expensive pigment; thus, this was a luxury object produced to hold a luxury product. A functional yet decorative object such as this jar would have been owned by a household from the top tiers of the Sistema de Castas, a rigid social-racial hierachy based upon ethnicity. The upper caste tiers maintained the closest direct ties to Spain by avoiding intermarriages in the New World. This jar was imported to New Mexico from Mexico via the El Camino Real de Tierra Adento. The route was associated with a network of royal roads (caminos reales) used by inhabitants of New Spain.