Cacao reached the Philippines through the Manila galleon trade in the seventeenth century, carried from Spanish America to the archipelago, where it became the basis of sikwate, the traditional Filipino hot chocolate still consumed today.
This plate of Theobroma cacao belongs to Flora de Filipinas, the first comprehensive study of Philippine plants, compiled by the Augustinian botanist Manuel Blanco and first published in 1837. The illustrated edition produced in Manila between 1877 and 1883 rendered each plant as a colored lithograph by Filipino and Spanish artists. This plate records the tree's leaves, flowers, and characteristic pods with the scientific precision that defined the work. Original folios can be viewed at the San Agustin Museum in Intramuros.
This print preserves a botanical plate from one of the most important illustrated works in Philippine history.
Available as a fine art print
→ View print here
