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The Meadows Collection
Adela & Mark Meadows

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Chocolate should be a food group...

In honor of one of our favorite foods, we begin this page of our selection of culinary antiques with some vintage chocolate molds.  I'll show them to you first and then later give you a brief history of chocolate molds and describe how they were used.

Vintage Native American Indian-Motif Copper Chocolate Mold

A Native American Indian Chief stands in full regalia holding a piece pipe...I can just imagine the joy on the faces of the little (or big) cowboy or cowgirl that received a piece of chocolate made with this mold!

It's a great decoration on its own...holes at the top of each half make it easy to display them on a wall if desired. The mold has lovely old patina that we have left alone...the interior was quite rusty, and the results of our attempts to clean the interior were only so so. They each measure 7.6875 inches high, 3.5 inches wide, and 1.675 inches deep. Each piece has wear holes.

Unsigned, the mold was made in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by the English firm of W. Jeacock...perhaps connected with Europe's fascination with the American West and "Cowboy and Indian" motifs which had a resurgence during the period of 1887-1892 when Wild Bill Hickok was touring Europe.

Vintage French Rooster Chocolate Mold...Létang Fils


A very proud rooster...

...complete with an original clip...

...the maker's mark for Létang Fils in Paris

It measures 7.375 inches high, 6.5 inches wide and is 3 inches deep; this was photographed in as-found condition...we tend to not like to mess with authentic patina...definitely something that cannot be replaced!

Vintage Père Noël Chocolate Mold...Matfer

This is a vintage French chocolate mold from the firm known as Matfer. Crafted of tin, the classic Santa is adorable...

...from all angles

...the back

...and the interior.

The mark for the Matfer company says it all...

...Qualité!

It measures 4.0625 inches, 2.125 inches wide, and .9375 of an inch deep.

Condition is excellent; one small and very light scratch inside the back of Santa's hood and three small areas of rust on the exterior.

"Man in the Moon" Chocolate Egg Mold
A very whimsical "Man in the Moon"...

...graces both halves of a chocolate mold that measures 5.675 inches high, 4.125 inches wide, and 3.675 inches deep.

Here's the other side...

...unsigned, but clearly a real treasure!

History and Use of Chocolate Molds:

Chocolate was primarily enjoyed solely as a liquid drink until the mid-nineteenth century, so the history of the molds used to make formed chocolate is not terribly long. In France, early chocolatiers made use of existing molds that were originally designed for sugar-based bon-bons, but these were often made of wood which did not fare well with the moisture of the melted chocolate.

By the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution took hold and molds were being produced in Europe using various metals.

There are two basic types of chocolate molds for the two basic types of chocolate confection...solid or hollow. Both types of molds were carefully seasoned with cocoa fat to facilitate the removal of the finished product. The trays with indented areas are for making solid chocolates...the seasoned trays are filled with melted chocolate, tapped or shaken to eliminate any air bubbles, and then allowed to cool so that the chocolate hardens. The second type generally consists of two corresponding hollow portions. Also seasoned, one side of the mold is partially filled with melted chocolate and then the other half of the mold is attached with clips or clasps. Once closed, the mold is tilted back and forth so that the chocolate coats both surfaces. Set aside to cool, when opened, the result is a thin chocolate shell bearing the design of the mold.

One of the oldest chocolate mold manufacturing firms was started in In France by Jean-Baptiste Létang in 1832. Maison Létang made molds in silverplate, solid tin, tinplate, and in copper. The first German factory was started in Berlin in 1866 by Herman Walter. Handed down from generation to generation, many of these early molds were among the treasured belongings brought to America by European immigrants.

Cross-collectibles, these chocolate molds are also featured in our link for  Antique Tools of the Trade.

Vintage Agriculture-Livestock Awards...Plaques de Concours

In years gone by, if you were traveling throughout the French countryside, you may have come across an example of this type of metal plaque displayed proudly on the exterior of a cattle enclosure, on the side of a chicken coop, or in a butcher shop window and wondered...what is the meaning of these interesting and decorative plaques?

They are awards...given in recognition of the raising of an outstanding pigeon, cow, hen, etc...something on the order of the blue ribbons that are given out at American livestock shows.

This is our local Parisian boucherie or butcher shop. When Jean-Paul  purchases a prize-winning animal at a livestock auction, as  the new owner, he also receives the awards that had been won by that particular animal...

...and these he displays in his windows so that his clients know that they are choosing from among the the crème de la crème of products.

Jean-Paul's awards are new...but we have a wonderful selection of vintage plaques de concours in all sorts of designs and shapes:

The oldest dates from 1914 and is made of zamak...a zinc-based alloy containing zinc, magnesium and copper.

It represents the 1st Prize for the category of young female cows of the Charollais breed. It measures 3.875 inches high, not including the hanging screw, 7.5 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick. When the piece was originally made, the screw was left exposed and is now rusty; the rest of the plaque is in great condition...just some good ol' honest farm crud.

Next is a wonderful 1st Prize award in the form of a shield and dated 1975.

It is aluminum...as are all of the ones that follow...and represented the Grand Prize of France in the town of Le Bourget, but I have no idea for what the prize was awarded. Le Bourget is not far from Paris and is famous for being the location of the airport where Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of Saint Louis in 1927, but I don't know anything about that area's agricultural specialty during the 70s. It measures 3.5625 inches high,  3.1875 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch deep. Fabulous condition!

Also from 1975 and painted to resemble a blue ribbon...

...this one was presented by the SCAF...the Société Centrale d'Aviculture de France...an organization concerned with animals that the French describe as being of the basse-cour...including roosters and chickens, ducks and geese, pheasants and rabbits, etc. The ship with the fleur-de-lys is a representation of the symbol of Paris. It measures 6.125 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick. Wonderful patina, with a bit of the decorative paint rubbed off in raised areas.

...this one was given out by the same organization...

...but one year later...in 1976. It measures the same...6.125 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick. It also has a wonderful patina, with a bit of the decorative paint rubbed off in raised areas.

...from Caen in Normandy...

...a prize given in 1980 by the Société Nationale de Colombiculture...a group concerned with the raising of pigeons. It measures 4.5 inches high, 6.675 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick. Distinctive form with some rubbing to the raised areas.

Representing first place awards given in 1983 by different organizations and for different categories...

...one with a rooster with an orange background...it measures 5.5 inches high, 3.125 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch deep. There's a bit of loss to the background paint

...one with a rooster with a blue background...this one measures 5.5625 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick; small amount of paint loss to the background


...and one with a stylistic rendition of several farm animals. It measures 5.5 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick; minor loss to paint in raised areas

...the prize awarded at the 1984 Exposition Inernationale d'Aviculture...

...has a brownish-gold background. It measures 5.5625 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick. Great condition

...and two awards from 1985, one with a gold background...

...it measures 5.5625 inches high, 3.1875 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick; a bit of paint loss to background

...and one with a blue background...

...it measures 5.5625 inches high, 3.25 inches wide, and .1875 of an inch thick; slight bit of loss to background paint

Individually or as a grouping...they provide a decorative touch of inspiration to both professional butchers and household cooks.

(We've also included them in our Antique Tools of the Trade link).