moss > Les Visiteurs d’ Été: Benjamin Franklin

JUL 25, 2008

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Detail:

Les Visiteurs d’ Été:
Benjamin Franklin

designer:
Jean-Antoine Houdon

design year:
1779

manufacturer:
Manufacture National de Sèvres, France

materials:
biscuit porcelain on a blue hand-painted pedestal with gold decoration

notes:
After drafting the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, Benjamin Franklin left for France to seek monetary assistance for the fledging country from the French government and King Louis XVI. His scientific reputation and personal integrity made him very popular in French social circles, and although the Minister of Finance opposed, he was able to secure liberal grants and loans from the King. Franklin also successfully negotiated treaties of commerce and defense between the American Colonies and France, which represented the turning point in the American Revolution. In 1781, Franklin, John Adams and John Jay were appointed to bring to conclusion the peace treaty between Great Britain and America. The treaty was signed in 1783 in Versailles, and Franklin returned to America in 1785.

Houdon created many busts of Franklin in various materials. A 1778 portrait in marble is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and another portrait, in terra-cotta, is in the collection of the Louvre Museum, Paris.

dimensions:
height: 13 ¼”

This piece has sold.