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Primary sourceArtifact1797

Tumbler

Paul Revere · 1797

A plain silver tumbler made by Paul Revere's workshop in 1797, engraved with scrolling foliage and rosettes.

A silver tumbler made by Revere's workshop, showing his trade as a silversmith late in his career.

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Photo of a plain silver tumbler, a straight-sided cup with a flared rim and a slightly rounded base, on a grey background. The upper band has engraved scrolling foliage with rosettes and a shell motif, with dotted border lines below. The body is otherwise smooth and polished.
Paul Revere, Tumbler, 1797. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This is a silver tumbler, a straight-sided drinking cup, made in 1797 by the silversmith Paul Revere. It is held today by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Revere is remembered mostly for his role in the American Revolution, but silversmithing was his trade and livelihood. This tumbler is a plain, functional piece, with its decoration limited to an engraved band of foliage and rosettes. It shows the everyday, practical side of his late workshop, after the war, when he was producing wares for ordinary customers rather than objects of political symbolism.

Look closer

  • What does the simple decoration tell you about who might have bought this tumbler?
  • How does this object compare with the image most people have of Revere as a wartime rider?
  • What skills would a silversmith need to make an object like this?

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

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