Creamer 1792

This cream pitcher was made by Paul Revere, the Boston silversmith and patriot. It’s an example of the craftsmanship and artistry present in colonial America, but it also speaks to the growing class divisions in revolutionary Massachusetts. Revere and other artisans benefitted from the wealth concentrated in the hands of merchants and landowners. Objects like this creamer signaled social status. They were luxury items, not accessible to the working classes agitating for independence from Britain. The elegant neoclassical design, with its fluted surface and refined handle, reflects the influence of European styles, but its creation and ownership were deeply embedded in the specific social and political conditions of colonial Boston. Historians examine account books, newspapers, and other period documents to reconstruct the complex relationships between artisans like Revere, their patrons, and the wider political context. We can learn about the economic structures that supported artistic production, and how those structures related to the revolutionary fervor of the time.