1938.34: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1938.34

People

Giovanni Battista Nini, Italian (Urbino, Italy 1717 - 1786 Chaumont sur Loire, France)

Title

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

relief, sculpture

Date

1777

Culture

Italian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/230673

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Terracotta

Technique

Relief

Dimensions

12 x 1.7 cm (4 3/4 x 11/16 in.)
280.2 g

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: impressed on truncation: NINI / F 1777
• inscription: around image, cast: B · FRANKLIN · AMERICAIN
• label: verso, black ink, handwritten: 355 / 140

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, NY; his gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1938.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Grenville L. Winthrop, Class of 1886

Accession Year

1938

Object Number

1938.34

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

Franklin in profile left, with fur hat. Verso is impressed with fleur-de-lys stamp. On exergue is stamped a crowned crest with hand and lightning bolt. Perforated at upper margin for hanging wire.

Publication History

• Richard Margolis, Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta, Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers (Ohio, 2015), pp. 39 (Type 11), 70-73, ill. p. 72-73
• Richard Margolis, Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta: Portrait Medallions by Jean-Baptiste Nini at the Chateau of Chaumont, Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers (Gahanna, Ohio, 2015), pp. 39, 70, 154; repr. p. 73, fig. 11

Verification Level