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Primary sourceArtifact1768

Sons of Liberty Bowl

Paul Revere · 1768

A silver punch bowl made by Paul Revere in 1768 to honor 92 Massachusetts legislators who defied the King.

Revere made this bowl himself, joining his silversmith's craft to his support for the Patriot cause.

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A large polished silver punch bowl on a glass pedestal in a museum gallery, with engraved inscription and scrolling decoration around its outer rim. Behind it hang gilt-framed portraits on gray walls, including a man in a white shirt and dark waistcoat resting his hand on his chin beside a teapot, and a display case holding silver pieces.
Paul Revere, Sons of Liberty Bowl, 1768. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

About this source

What it is

This silver punch bowl was made in 1768 by Paul Revere, a silversmith and Patriot. It commemorates the 92 Massachusetts legislators who refused a royal order to rescind the Circular Letter opposing British taxation. It is held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Why it matters

The bowl links Revere's craft directly to the political resistance building in the colonies. By honoring the defiant legislators in engraved silver, Revere turned an everyday luxury object into a political statement, showing how artisans used their skills to support the Patriot cause before the Revolution began.

Look closer

  • Why might Revere have chosen a punch bowl, rather than another object, to honor the legislators?
  • What does the engraving tell you about who Revere wanted to celebrate?
  • How does this object connect Revere's trade as a silversmith to politics?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Paul Revere and Samuel Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Hand-colored engraving titled 'The Bloody Massacre' showing British redcoat soldiers firing volleys of musket smoke at a crowd in King Street, Boston, with bodies on the ground and a Town House building in the background. Verse text and a caption appear below.Painting

Primary source

The Bloody Massacre

Paul Revere · 1770

Oil portrait of a man with short brown hair in a white linen shirt and dark green vest, resting his right hand against his chin. His left hand holds a polished silver teapot on a round wooden stand. Tools lie on the dark wooden table in front of him against a black background.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Paul Revere

John Singleton Copley · 1768

Scanned page 27 of an 1861 magazine, headed 'Paul Revere's Ride', showing the poem's title and opening stanzas in two columns of printed text, with prose from the preceding article above.Book

Secondary source

Paul Revere's Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1860

Exterior front view of a two-story wooden clapboard house with a shingled gabled roof, diamond-paned leaded windows, and a stone foundation. A brick chimney rises at the right, and a dark wooden door with a metal grate is on the ground floor.Artifact

Primary source

Paul Revere House

c. 1680

Oil portrait of an elderly man with white hair, shown from the chest up against a dark background. He wears a black coat and a white cravat, and his face is turned slightly to the right, looking toward the viewer.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Paul Revere by Gilbert Stuart

Gilbert Stuart · 1813

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