Sugar bowl 1792

This sugar bowl was made by Paul Revere, a silversmith in the American colonies. It is crafted from sheets of sterling silver. The metal was likely melted, hammered, and then shaped using tools like planishing hammers, files, and dies. The bowl’s surface is decorated with fluted panels, and it shows the incredible amount of labor involved in the production process. Revere, like other silversmiths of his era, was not just an artisan, but also an early entrepreneur. He would have employed apprentices and journeymen, organizing his workshop along proto-industrial lines. Silver objects like these were luxury goods, emblems of wealth and status in colonial society, and demonstrate the intimate relationship between craft and emerging capitalism. Examining this sugar bowl through the lens of materials and making highlights the broader social and economic context in which it was produced, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.