Images(5)

Teapot

Paul Revere, Sr. (American (born in France, baptized Apollos Rivoire), 1702–1754)

about 1730

Object PlaceBoston, Massachusetts

Medium/TechniqueSilver

Dimensions14.8 x 24 cm (5 13/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. George P. Montgomery

Accession number1972.122

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsSilver hollowware

Collections

Americas

Description

This handsome teapot by Paul Revere I carries the restrained engraving and globular, or apple-shaped, profile typical of Boston teapots from the 1730s through the 1750s. It is one of three in the Museum’s collection, from a total of four that Revere I is believed to have made. Its spout is original, unlike the one on the Foster/Hutchinson family teapot published by Kathryn C. Buhler, which was “changed within the memory of the donor.” The engraving on both is similar, but this teapot has a condensed design that is handled with a far more delicate touch than the broadly conceived scrolls and leafage on the Foster teapot. The 1730 marriage date of the original owners and the italic text of the “P [pellet] Revere” mark suggest that this teapot was one of the elder Revere’s early attempts at this form.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

InscriptionsUnder teapot is the scratch weight of "17: oz " in a contemporaneous hand and a later notation of "16 = 15."ProvenanceThe teapot was made for shopkeeper and mariner John Pulling [Pullen] (about 1700 – about 1770) of Boston and his first wife, Martha Mountjoy (d. before 1753), m. 1730. The vessel passed to Edward Pulling (1755 – 1796) of Salem, son of John Pulling’s second wife, Jerusha Bradbury (b. 1711), m. 1753. Edward Pulling m. Lois Robinson in 1796. The teapot descended to their daughter Mary Robinson Pulling (1797 – 1882) of Salem and Daniel Oliver (1787 – 1842) of Marblehead, m. 1817; to their son Andrew Oliver (1824 – 1897) and Adelaide Imlay (1829 – 1898) of New York City; to their daughter Mary Pulling Imlay Oliver (b. 1860), d. unm.; to her niece Katharine Alice Crane (1890 – 1980) of New York City, the donor and wife of George Peabody Montgomery (1885 – 1972), m. 1918.