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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.

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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

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu