Paul Revere, Jr.
Sugar Dish

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Sugar Dish
Datec. 1755–1775
Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions6 1/8 × 3 5/16 in. diameter (15.5 × 8.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.109.A,.B
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionBoth the body and the lid of this sugar dish exhibit the double-swelled form characteristic of the rococo style, but except for the lid’s finial, it is without surface ornamentation. The mottled color of the surface is called fire scale, which results from repeated heating of the silver to make it more malleable as the silversmith hammers out the form. Heating the silver accelerates oxidation, darkening the surface. A dip in an acid bath, called “pickling,” removed the appearance of fire scale by differentially attacking copper, the component in the silver alloy that oxidizes and darkens the surface. Pickling left a thin layer of nearly pure silver on the surface, which later polishing would eventually remove, again revealing the firescale.
ProvenanceProbably made for Lucretia Greene (Mrs. John Callahan, 1748–1824, m. 1774), Boston; inherited by her daughter Mary Callahan (1776–1855); inherited by her niece Mary Timmins Quincy Hill (Mrs. Benjamin Pollard Winslow, 1813–1902); inherited by her son Alfred Erving Winslow (1839–1922); inherited by his son Charles Edward Amory Winslow (1877–1957); purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1956; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History"Women Shaping Texas," The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, Texas, December 8, 2012–May 19, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved on side: M.C. to M.T.Q.H [Mary Callahan to Mary Timmins Quincy Hill] [added later]
Engraved beneath bowl: 13 oz, 12 dwt
Underneath body: mark of Paul Revere, Jr. [Buhler and Hood 1970, vol. I, p. 330, nos. 238–40, 243–47, 252–54]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Spoon
Paul Revere, Jr.
1781
Silver
B.86.5
Teaspoon
Paul Revere, Jr.
c. 1765–1790
Silver
B.86.6
Teaspoon
Paul Revere, Jr.
c. 1796–1805
Silver
B.87.10.2
Teaspoon
Paul Revere, Jr.
c. 1796–1805
Silver
B.87.10.1
Slop Bowl
Paul Revere, Jr.
1797
Silver
B.69.98
Bookplate for Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831)
Paul Revere, Jr.
c. 1765–1770
Engraving on laid paper
B.81.3
The Bloody Massacre
Paul Revere, Jr.
1770
Engraving and etching with hand coloring on laid paper
B.84.9
Cereal Bowl
Paul Revere Pottery
1905
Ceramic
85.213
Sugar Dish
Myer Myers
c. 1745–1775
Silver
B.69.96.A,.B
Pair of Spurs and Buckles
William Mitchell, Jr.
c. 1815–1845
Silver
B.86.3.A-.D
scan from file photograph
John Owen, Jr.
c. 1804–1831
Silver
B.87.5
Cruet Stand
John David, Jr.
c. 1757–1798
Silver
B.82.1