Painted in 1768, years before Revere's legendary ride, Copley's portrait captured the silversmith at work. Strikingly informal, it depicts Revere in his shirtsleeves and without a wig, a pictorial decision that indicates his middle-class, artisan stature. Yet the pristine surface of a mahogany table and a waistcoat trimmed with expensive gold buttons do not accurately reflect the attire or environment of working artisan, suggesting that Copley idealized his image of the early American artisan. Unadorned in its depiction, Revere's teapot nevertheless represented the highest testament to his craft and is a telling political symbol. As a response to British taxation on imported goods, colonists boycotted tea, which prompted a decline in Revere's teapot production. Since Copley tended to avoid political controversy in his portraits, the inclusion of the teapot is therefore a provocative one. His painting remained with Revere's descendants "neglected for many years in the attic" until Longfellow's poem brought renewed attention to the Boston silversmith.

John Singleton Copley, 1768,
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, 2/19/20