Paul Revere, 1768

Oil on canvas; 89.22 x 72.39 cm (35 1/8 x 28 1/2 in). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

Copley’s portrait of his friend and colleague abides by the rules of colonial portraiture and perhaps embeds an encoded story.

The obvious clues to Revere’s artistic identity are his open-collared shirt, lack of a coat, contemplative hand-to-chin pose, teapot without an inscription, and tools of the silversmith's trade. The embedded narrative centers on the teapot — Revere crafted only one in 1768 — since his clients had boycotted tea.

In 1775 the British government was not the limited monarchy we know today. The King was in charge of the executive branch of the government and his duties and powers corresponded, roughly, to those the President now handles in the United States. ... Political parties as we understand them today had yet to be born. England was split into four or five factions, some revolving around a noble Lord such as Marquis of Rockingham, some around a class (the country squires) and roughly on-third of Parliament around the King who, through his executive power, had innumerable jobs, from cabinet post to lucrative sinecures, to dispense among those who supported him.

— Thomas Fleming

Now We Are Enemies: The Story of Bunker Hill (1960; reissued 2010)