18th-century Bronze Cocoa Measure From Ecuador

18th-century bronze cocoa measure from Ecuador. In the 18th century, during the colonial period under the Royal Audience of Quito (then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada), the measures used for trading and weighing cocoa were governed by the Spanish metrological system. In this context, metal objects (made of bronze or brass) used as standards for measuring cocoa had to comply with specific administrative standards. Municipalities (cabildos) or port customs offices (particularly in Guayaquil, a major cocoa export port Nacional) kept official bronze containers to verify the volume or weight sold by producers (hacendados). On site, for collecting and rationing workers’ rations, sturdier metal volumetric containers were preferred over wooden ones to withstand the tropical climate.
Measure stabilized by the addition of water or grain, like any bell-shaped object. Weighs 3 kg