Silver coffee pot / Paul Revere

This phenomenal and incredibly rare antique silver coffee pot by patriot Paul Revere is one of only three armorial coffee pots he made prior to the American Revolution. The other two are housed in the collections of the Worcester Art Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. The pot was created at a time when Revere was a most active participant in the events that lead to the nation's independence. It bears all of the traits held by only the most important artifacts, characteristics that separate the great from the extraordinary. In terms of maker, quality and history, this coffee pot is the most significant article of Revere silver available anywhere. Such a remarkable piece of pre-Revolutionary American silver, made by this legendary Patriot and craftsman, would be the most important piece of silver a collector could ever hope to acquire.

The coffee pot bears the armorial of the Dudley family with the motto "Frangas non flectes" ("Broken, not bowed"), and marked "Revere" on the base. The most renowned Dudleys in colonial Boston were the family of Governors Thomas and Joseph Dudley.

Circa 1775

Provenance:
Dudley Family
Mr. and Mrs. John Hopkins, to her niece
Mehetibel Greene (Mrs. William Simons), to her daughters
Mr. Arons of Ansonia (probably Harry Arons; 1937)
James Grahm & Sons, Inc., New York
W.T.H Howe
Lena D. Howe, heirs of the late Hattie E. Cheney
Sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, November 9, 1946, lot 58

Price: $1,850,000

Born in 1734 to a Huguenot silversmith, Paul Revere's patriotism and his contribution to the American decorative arts is of inestimable value. He was immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, which tells of how he heroically rode through the countryside warning of the approaching British troops at the beginning of the American Revolution. This legendary event, along with his extraordinary work as a silversmith, has left a lasting legacy for Paul Revere.