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Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.
Sugar Urn
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Sugar Urn

Artist/Culture Paul Revere American, 1735–1818
Dateabout 1795
Mediumsilver
Dimensions25.3 × 11.4 cm (9 15/16 × 4 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsMetalwork
Markingson edge of plinth, 'REVERE' in uneven rectangle
Credit LineGift of The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of UnumProvident Corporation
Object number1999.464
Descriptionfluted body on high splayer circular foot, on square base, bud finial on cover, chased and engraved decorationLabel TextToday, Paul Revere is celebrated as a hero of the American Revolution largely due to an 1860 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, America's leading poet of the 19th century. This poem relates Revere's actions in alerting communities around Boston of advancing British troops on the night of April 18, 1775—although Longfellow embellished some parts of the story and made no mention of the other messengers.

While indeed active in the patriot cause, Revere was best-known during his lifetime as a respected metalsmith and printmaker and, later, as an innovative businessman who pioneered industrial techniques in copper manufacturing. Rvere's silversmithing activities are well-represented in the Museum's collection with objects spanning his career from the 1750s to the early 1800s, including this sugar bowl.
ProvenanceCharles Hitchcock Tyler Collection
Acquired from the above by the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, UnumProvident, December 1, 1960
Gift of the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of UnumProvident Corporation
On View
On view
Current Location
  • Exhibition Location   Gallery 3001
Sugar bowl
Paul Revere
about 1780
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.
Paul Revere
1755–1818
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Paul Revere
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Fluted Teaspoon
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1999.454.1-2
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Paul Revere
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Tankard
Paul Revere
1773
Sugar Tongs
Paul Revere
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Sugar Tongs
Paul Revere
about 1795
Cann
Paul Revere
1785–1790