American patriot Paul Revere is wrapped in the swirling mixture of myth and poetry through which history often descends, thanks largely to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. But, as a craftsman and artist his most iconic creation was the silver Sons of Liberty Bowl, bravely made in 1768 by the rebel and silversmith on the threshold of the Revolutionary War. The bowl commemorates the “Glorious 92” legislators who courageously voted to oppose George III and parliament’s imposition of the Townshend Acts and other untenable legislation.

Engraved with references to Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and John Wilkes’s pamphlet No. 45 on liberty and freedom of the press, the bowl also contains a long commemorative inscription praising the Massachusetts legislature for being “undaunted by the insolent menaces of villains in power,” an issue and attitude as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century.

The Sons of Liberty Bowl was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1949 at the height of the Cold War with the help of seven hundred small donations from Boston schoolchildren and the public.

Image credit: Paul Revere Jr. (1734-1818), Sons of Liberty Bowl, Boston, Massachusetts, 1768. Silver; H. 5 ½ in., Diam. lip 11 in., Wt. 45 oz. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum purchase with funds donated by contribution and the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 (49.45).

Gerald W. R. Ward is the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He currently teaches about American art at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston and is the curator of the Portsmouth Historical Society, where he also edits its Portsmouth Marine Society Press. A graduate of Harvard College, he holds a doctorate from Boston University and is now serving his seventh term as a New Hampshire state representative.

Dr. Ward has contributed to many publications on American art and material culture as an author or editor, including Family Treasures: 175 Years of Collecting Art and Furniture at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The basis for this webinar is Gerry’s short MFA Highlights book entitled Paul Revere: Sons of Liberty Bowl.

Curt DiCamillo is American Ancestors' Curator of Fine Art. As part of the Education team, he curates American Ancestors' large art collection, lectures around the world, and hosts the celebrated American Ancestors Art & Architecture webinar series.