af tibeel asd ae 3487) sors ste ai sta rae vies fee hy rath arab hesdias < = yt yFt retatites peer eietoies eas t a i an Sty a crit wave eng are, we ot * at ot hae ies SN Screen oaeak ass <> i poets setae kiece tet? pecereeporsitte: feted: e cf aioe eeayars eaty bat Sess ye ete etal itetetes sTate ek hat ana by x - 4 a 1) > = ve en o $ Cay ‘ ‘ni ae ¢ kt al ° + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE By JOHN CLYDE OSWALD Author of “Benjamin Franklin, Printer” A History of “Printing” NEW YORK WILLIAM EDWIN RUDGE 1926 , TIONS pe TH Oe corres FRO FLERSED 1) OF Hag LONG SAND TA PAE OY In recognition and appreciation of her patience with her husband's hobbies FOREWORD ROBABLY the features and form of no man who ever lived were delineated so frequently and in such a variety of ways as were those of Benjamin Franklin. His long career, his varied pur- suits, his distinguished accomplishments and consequent fame, the fact that he lived for many years in each of three different countries —all these circumstances added together made for both quantity and variety in his portraiture. Every article, ornamental or otherwise, of his time, that could be utilized as a background for his portrait or his effigy was so used. Watches, clocks, pocket-knives, razors, plates, handkerchiefs, cameos, snuff-boxes, medals, medallions, busts, stat- ues, statuettes, bearing Franklin’s visage are still to be found in pro- fusion. A numerous collection, made by Henry E. Huntington, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and there are other collections both public and private. The name of Franklin is used more frequently to designate coun- ties, towns, streets, etc., than that of any other American. The num- ber of statues, busts and portraits bearing his name is exceeded by no other excepting possibly that of Washington. The number of buildings erected to house the institutions and corporations bearing Franklin’s name is steadily increasing and it is the rule to include somewhere in the decorative scheme of each a Franklin bust or por- trait or a painting depicting some phase of his career. There has, therefore, been a demand for a work giving information in regard to authoritative Franklin delineations, which is the occasion for the issuance of this volume. 5 me ¢ i oer tz: he woe oy bai ‘ . " he. = ; seoky > ‘ t. i Cpls bY 4 ua: ‘ ; > ye . bwty hawt? s ; ey 5 ‘ 2 ty 4 ‘ . he a =i . ‘ FF wipe ES shea i fee Bene o.oo ied EPpee* & * » 4 - o* 3 . a. a 77 ~~ ans ay o Benjamin Franklin in Oil and Bronze FRANKLIN’S PERSONAL APPEARANCE HE ONLY contemporaneous description of Franklin that has come down to us is an unfriendly one. It is contained in a volume of one hundred and fifteen pages, entitled the “Histoire dun Pou Francois; au L’Espion d@une nouvelle espece, tant en France qu’en Angleterre” (History of a French Louse; or the Spy of a new species, in France and England). It was pub- lished anonymously in French in Paris in 1779 and reprinted in English in London the same year. The description referred to reads as follows: By good fortune I found myself placed directly opposite to Monsieur Ambassador; and here I must acknowledge that I was not able to forbear laughing heartily when I contemplated the grotesque figure of this original, who with a vulgar person and mean appearance, affected the air and gestures of a fop. A sun-burnt complection, a wrinkled forehead, warts in many places, which might be said to be as graceful in him as the moles that distinguished the sweet face of the Countess of Barry. With these he had the advantage of a double chin, to which was added a great bulk of nose, and teeth which might have been taken for cloves had they not been set fast in a thick jaw. This, or something like this, is the true picture of his Excellency. As for his eyes I could not distinguish them, because of the situation I was in; and besides a large pair of spectacles hid two thirds of his face. James Parton, an early biographer who wrote from first-hand information, says of Franklin that his eyes were gray and his complexion light. Notwithstand- ing the fact that Thackeray in “The Virginians” refers to him as “the little post- master,” Franklin was physically rather a large man, about five feet ten inches in height and somewhat stout. He was athletic in tendency, having been in his youth, in fact, America’s first amateur athlete. He was a champion swimmer, so expert that if he had remained when still scarcely out of his teens in London instead of 8 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE coming back to engage in business in America, he probably would have become the managing partner of a swimming school that it was proposed to establish for him there. Young Franklin’s dexterity as a wrestler is attested by the ease with which he once pitched his boyhood chum Collins head foremost out of a boat without upsetting it, when that worthy refused to take his turn at rowing. In his later years in speaking to Robert Morris he referred to the time “‘when I was a boxing boy.” He never shirked manual labor and always performed it ably. We read in the Autobiography: ‘On occasion, I carried up and down stairs a large form of types in each hand, when others carried but one in both hands.” And again: “TI some- times brought home the paper I purchased at the stores through the streets in a wheelbarrow.” Franklin’s tendency was naturally studious and after retiring from active busi- ness at the age of forty-two and devoting himself to sedentary pursuits he found that he was growing corpulent. A year or so after his retirement he wrote about a business matter which called for a journey: “I am growing almost too lazy to undertake it.” Later, by way of doing a good turn to a friend, he said: “I love ease more than ever, and by daily using your horses I can be of service to you and them by preventing their growing too fat and becoming restive.” He was accustomed to refer to himself humorously as Dr. Fatsides and his struggles against his increasing bulk are exhibited in a statement in the privately circulated Craven Street Gazette, of which he was the author, to this effect: “Dr. Fatsides made four hundred and sixty-nine turns in his dining room.” He once wrote to his sister Jane: “For my part I wish the house was turned upside down; tis so difficult (when one is fat) to go up stairs.” Franklin’s head was large, and his face long and the chin somewhat pointed. The mouth, it will be seen from the portraits, had a peculiarly set expression. In his later years his hair grew white and thin. The lines of the figure of all the por- traits are curving rather than angular, as was the case, for instance, with Abraham Lincoln. The largeness of Franklin’s head gave rise to an amusing complication at the beginning of his representation of the American colonies in France. Presentation at court required a costume prepared along rigid lines, one necessary part of which was a wig. Franklin ordered a wig, and tradition, as recorded by James Parton, says: On the appointed day, the perukier himself brought home the work of his hands, and tried it on; but the utmost efforts of the great artist could not get it upon the head it was designed to disfigure. After patiently submitting for a long time to the manipulations of the perukier, Dr. Franklin ventured to hint that, perhaps the wig was a little too small. “Monsieur, it is impossible.” After many more fruit- less trials, the perukier dashed the wig to the floor, in a furious passion, exclaiming, ““No, Monsieur; it is not the wig which is too small; it is your head which is too large.” It was too late, continues the anonymous chronicler who recorded this anecdote, to procure another, and, therefore, the audacious philosopher resolved to approach the presence of majesty “without a bag.” . . . FRANKLIN’S PERSONAL APPEARANCE 9 On the morning of the great day he dressed as he would have dressed if he were going out to dine with the president of Congress—in a suit of plain black velvet, with the usual snowy ruffles at wrist and bosom, white silk stockings and silver buckles. And a more superb costume than that has never been worn by an old gentleman in any age or country. So General Washington was attired on occasions of state, with the addition of yellow gloves, a cocked hat and plume, and sword with steel hilt and white leather scabbard. Dr. Franklin’s costume, I need not say, was a most brilliant success. Mr. Austin in- timates that the chamberlain hesitated a moment about admitting him, but it was only for a moment; and all the court were captivated at the noble, well-timed effrontery of his conduct. Franklin . . . positively would not again submit to the daily nuisance of pigtail and powder. His white hair being now too scanty for the protection of his head, he was accustomed to wear at this time (but soon discarded it) an odd-looking fur cap, which did impart to his appearance something that might pass for rusticity. One of the first letters which he wrote in Paris, contains a humorous descrip- tion of his appearance: “Figure me, in your mind, as jolly as formerly, and as strong and hearty, only a few years older; very plainly dressed, wearing my thin, gray, straight hair, that peeps out under my only coiffure, a fine fur cap, which comes down my forehead almost to my spectacles. Think how this must appear among the powdered heads of Paris! I wish every lady and gentleman in France would only be so obliging as to follow my fashion, comb their own heads, as I do mine, dismiss the friseurs, and pay me half the money they paid to them.” Parton presents another attractive description of Franklin when he says: To appreciate properly the labors of Dr. Franklin during the next two years, we must not lose sight of the fact that he had reached that period of life when most men find it necessary, and all men find it pleasant, to desist from toil. But he was an old man only in years. His mind never grew old; and his body, at this time, was not perceptibly impaired. . . . His face was ruddy, and indicated vig- orous health. His countenance expressed serenity, firmness, benevolence, and easily assumed a certain look of comic shrewdness, as if waiting to see whether his companion had “taken” a joke. Some of his portraits preserve this expression. In conversation, he excelled greatly in the rare art of listening, and seemed devoid of the least taint of a desire to shine. His was a weighty and expressive silence, which elicited talk, not quelled it; and his taciturnity gave to his utterances, when he did speak, the character of events to be remembered and reported. Hence, anecdotes of Franklin were among the current coin of conversation in Philadelphia, and the staple of editorial paragraphs throughout the Colonies. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, a distinguished New England scholar, called upon Ben- jamin Franklin in 1787, after Franklin’s return from France and practical retire- ment from actual participation in public affairs, and in his journal he presents this engaging picture of the old philosopher: Dr. Franklin lives in Market Street. His house stands up a court, at some distance from the street. We found him in his garden, sitting upon a grassplot, under a very large mulberry tree, with several other gentlemen and two or three ladies. When Mr. Gerry introduced me, he rose from his chair, took me by the hand, expressed his joy at seeing me, welcomed me to the city, and begged me to seat myself close to him. His voice was low, but his countenance open, frank and pleasing. I delivered to him my letters. After he had read them, he took me again by the hand, and, with the usual compli- ments, introduced me to the other gentlemen, who are most of them members of the convention. . . . He seemed extremely fond, through the course of the visit, of dwelling on philosophical subjects, and particularly that of natural history, while the other gentlemen were swallowed up with politics. ‘This was a favorable circumstance for me; for almost the whole of his conversation was addressed to me, and I was highly delighted with the extensive knowledge he appeared to have of every subject, the brightness of his memory, and clearness and vivacity in all his mental faculties, notwithstanding his age. His manners are perfectly easy, and everything about him seems to diffuse an unrestrained free- dom and happiness. He has an incessant vein of humor, accompanied with an uncommon vivacity, which seems as natural and involuntary as his breathing. He urged me to call on him again, but my short stay would not admit. We took our leave at ten, and I retired to my lodgings. THE FRANKLIN PORTRAITS RANKLIN died fifty years before the invention of photography. Only two accurate methods of portrait delineation other than engraving and etching existed in his time, those of silhouette, which was restricted to pro- files, and painting. The silhouette was not important, but painting was very much so, and happily many portraits of Franklin were made by painters to whom he sat, but, equally unhappily, it must also be said that many of the portraits now in existence were made by painters who never saw the original. Franklin, like Washington, found sitting for his portrait an irksome task. Under date of June 25, 1780, he wrote from France to Thomas Digges in part as follows: I have at the request of friends, sat so much and so often to painters and statuaries, that I am per- fectly sick of it. I know of nothing so tedious as sitting hours in one fixed posture. I would neverthe- less do it once more to oblige you if it was necessary, but there are already so many good likenesses of the face, that if the best of them is copied it will probably be better than a new one, and the body is only that of a lusty man which need not be drawn from the life; any artist can add such a body to the face. Or it may be taken from Chamberlin’s print. I hope therefore you will excuse me. The face Miss Georgiana has is thought here to be the most perfect. Ornaments and emblems are best left to the fancy of the painter. More than a month previously he had written to Fournier, the French type founder, a letter in French which has been translated, as follows: I speak French so poorly that I am not surprised to find that you do not understand me in connec- tion with the portrait that you desired. When I mentioned Mr. Duplessis it was for the purpose of telling you that the artist having made a good portrait of me in large size for M. de Chaumont, he could copy it in miniature for you. But as you prefer to have it made after life, I have consented to oblige you and pose for any artist you might wish to employ, although it is a very tedious matter for me and I have refused several already. It would seem from a few expressions in your letter that you understand that I pay the artist. Therefore, we must understand each other better before starting, for although I feel flattered at the honor that you will do me to accept my portrait, I wish to advise you that I am neither rich nor vain enough to have copies made at eight or ten louis each to give them away and at the same time I do not think that they are worth the expense you wish to make for them. In a letter to his daughter from France under date of June 3, 1779, Franklin further referred to the multiplicity of representations of his portrait as follows: The clay medallion of me you say you gave to Mr. Hopkinson was the first of the kind made in France. A variety of others have been made since of different sizes; some to be set in the lids of snuff- boxes, and some so small as to be worn in rings; and the numbers sold are incredible. These, with the pictures, busts, and prints (of which copies upon copies are spread everywhere) have made your father’s face as well known as that of the moon, so that he durst not do anything that would oblige him to run away, as his phiz would discover him wherever he should venture to show it. The most familiar and the most famous portraits of Franklin are those by Joseph Sifréde Duplessis, who many times painted “le grand Americain,” as Franklin was called in France. Duplessis’s portraits of Franklin are in the pos- session of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Mutual Assurance Company, Philadelphia, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, the Metro- ' DUPLESSIS PORTRAIT REPRODUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPH OF PAINTING OWNED BY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA. ALSO IN PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AND BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS I2 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE politan Museum of Art, New York, the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and several others are in private hands. The New York Historical Society possesses what is either an original Du- plessis or a good copy. It was purchased by Louis Durr and presented by will with more than one hundred and fifty other paintings to the Society on Mr. Durr’s death in 1880. It is accepted by experts as a genuine Duplessis, but is not signed or inscribed on the back, and there is no record of its history. Duplessis was Conservator of the Museum at Versailles and an Academician, who painted portraits of personages of distinction, among them Louis XVI and the French monarch’s great Director-General of Finances, James Necker. A contemporaneous French reference to Duplessis is to the effect that he “was dis- tinguished by a beautiful intelligence, by his effect of light on flesh and acces- sories, by a free pencil, much feeling and correct coloring.” A statue was erected in Versailles to his memory and one of the city’s streets bears his name. The Duplessis portraits, excepting the pastel in the New York Library, are known as “fur collar” portraits. Richard S. Greenough, the sculptor who did the Franklin statue in front of the City Hall in Boston, is quoted as saying that Frank- lin’s fondness for fur in his pictures is due to the fact that fur was used as a profes- sional badge by the early printers. Where Mr. Greenough got his information is not known. Duplessis painted his first portrait in 1778 for M. Donatien le Ray de Chaumont, mentioned in the letter to Fournier previously quoted, whose “petite . maison” at Versailles Franklin occupied. This portrait came into the possession of Thomas Jefferson, who bequeathed it to Joseph Coolidge, Jr., who in turn sold it to the Boston Atheneum in 1828 for $200.00. The Duplessis pastel was done in 1783. It was presented by Franklin to M. Louis Veillard, Mayor of Passy, the district.in which Franklin lived, to whom was presented also the original manuscript of the famous Autobiography. The pastel is a gift from John Bigelow, at one time United States ambassador from the United States to the Court of Versailles, to the New York Public Library. It will be recalled that it was Mr. Bigelow who discovered the original manuscript of the Autobiography, both it and the Duplessis pastel being in the possession of M. de Senarmont, a member of the Le Veillard family by marriage. The pastel hangs in the trustees’ room of the New York Public Library, where by the terms of Mr. Bigelow’s gift it is to remain. Another portrait painted by Duplessis in 1778 recently came into the ownership of a private collector in New York, Colonel Michael Friedsam. Franklin presented this portrait at the close of his ministry in Paris to the Perier Brothers, engineers and owners of the famous Chaillot fire engine, with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship and in whose family it remained until its purchase by Colonel Friedsam. A miniature of the “fur collar” variety by Duplessis is owned by Mrs. Edward P. (Ellen Duane) Davis, of Philadelphia, a lineal descendant of Franklin. DUPLESSIS PASTEL NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY DUPLESSIS PORTRAIT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, NEW YORK DUPLESSIS PORTRAIT IN FRANKLIN UNION, BOSTON SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN DONE BY THE MASTER’S PUPILS 16 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE The Duplessis portraits are so admirably described by Sydney George Fisher in his interesting volume, “The True Benjamin Franklin,” that I cannot do better than quote the description in full: Any one who will examine the original or any good replicas of it in oil will, I am convinced, see Franklin as he really was. The care in details, the wrinkles, and the color of the skin give us confidence in it as a likeness. The round, strong, but crude form of the boy of twenty has been beaten and changed by time into a hundred qualities and accomplishments, yet the original form is still discern- ible, and the face looks straight at us; we see the eyes and every line close at hand. In this, the best portrait for studying Franklin’s eye, we see at once that it is the eye of a very sensuous man, and we also see many details which mark the self-made man, the man who never had been and never pretended to ent to material wealth. Nor be an aristocrat. This is in do we find in him any of strong contrast to Washing- that bitter hostility and jeal- ton’s portraits, which all dis- asta) ousy of the established and close a man distinctly of the . ¥ successful which more mod- upper class and conscious of ern experience might lead us Tt to expect. The Duplessis portrait con- forms to what we read of Franklin in representing him as hale and vigorous at sev- enty-two. The face is full of lines, but they are the lines of thought, and of thought that has come easily and cheer- fully; there are no traces of But, in spite of this home- liness in the Duplessis por- trait, and the easy, careless manner in which the clothes are worn, there are no signs of what might be called vul- garity. The wonderful and manysided accomplishments of the man carried him well above this. Brought up as a anxiety, gnawing care, or boy at candle and soap mak- bitterness. In Paris, at the ing, he nevertheless, when time the Duplessis portrait prosperous, turned instinct- was painted, Franklin was ively to higher things and re- PRATT PORTRAIT regarded as a rather unusual fined accomplishments and example of vigor and good was comparatively indiffer- health in old age, The Franklin portrait in the Franklin Union in Boston was presented by Benja- min Franklin to Isaiah Thomas, who ranks next to Franklin in fame as an Ameri- can printer. The painting is believed to be a copy of a Duplessis by one or more of the master’s pupils made under his direction. It was presented by Mrs. Richard Olney, a direct descendant of ‘Thomas. The earliest authentic portrait of Franklin is the one painted by Matthew Pratt in Philadelphia in 1757, just before Franklin, at the age of fifty-one, left upon his first mission to England as representative of the American Colonies. Pratt was an American artist who was practically self-taught, having had no foreign train- ing. He was born in 1734 and lived to be seventy-one years of age. His father was an intimate friend of Franklin. The Mason Chamberlin portrait was done in 1762 and therefore represents Franklin at fifty-six years of age. Chamberlin was one of the original members of the Royal Academy. He exhibited the portrait at the Society of Artists in 1763. CHAMBERLIN PORTRAIT 18 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE It was bought by Joshua Bates, an American banker who lived in England and was a member of the firm of Baring Brothers. Bates served as umpire when the Joint Committee representing the United States and Great Britain could not agree in their attempt to settle the claims growing out of the war of 1812. Bates died in 1864 and the portrait passed to his daughter, who had married M. Sylvain Van de Weyer, for many years Belgian minister in London. It was brought to America by M. Knoedler & Co. of New York. Jared Sparks, Franklin’s biographer, desig- nated the portrait as “one of the best ever taken of Dr. Franklin.” Franklin in a letter to Mrs. Deborah Franklin dated September 1, 1773, said: To the French edition they have prefixed a print of your old husband, which, though a copy of that by Chamberlin, has got so French a countenance that you would take him for one of that lively nation. Chamberlin painted an original and a replica of Franklin. Harvard University possesses a copy by G. D. Leslie. Benjamin Wilson painted several portraits of Franklin. One of them, done in 1759, hangs in the White House at Washington. It was in the possession of Mrs. Deborah Franklin in Philadelphia at the time of the taking of Philadelphia by the British under Lord Howe, in 1777. A number of British officers, among them the ill-fated Major John André, occupied the Franklin residence and when they left Major André took with him the Wilson portrait of Franklin,. which he later presented to General Sir Charles Grey. Franklin in a letter written in Phila- delphia in 1788, after his return from France, spoke of this theft as follows: “Our English enemies, when they were in possession of this city and this house, made a prisoner of my portrait, and carried it off with them, leaving that of its com- panion, my wife, a kind of widow.” This letter was written to Mme. Lavoisier, who was herself an artist, in acknowledgment of a painting of Franklin by her. He concluded by saying: “‘You have replaced the husband, and the lady seems to smile, as well pleased.” The Wilson portrait in Washington hung for more than a hundred years in Howick House, the ancestral home of the Greys, and it was seen there by Joseph H. Choate, ambassador from the United States to the Court of St. James, who suggested that it ought to be returned to the United States and that 1906, the two hundredth anniversary of Franklin’s birth, would be an appropriate date for the restoration. The suggestion appealed favorably to Earl Grey, the head of the family and at that time governor-general of Canada, and the portrait was later sent to Theodore Roosevelt, then president of the United States. It was placed in the White House, where it will doubtless remain permanently. It was Ee tag in Earl Grey’s homie by a copy made by William M. Chase. It will be noted that like the Pratt, Martin and Chamberlin portraits, it shows - Franklin wearing a wig, which ence he discarded in later years. He said of the portrait that it was ‘“‘allowed by those who have seen it to have great merit as a picture in every respect.” Benjamin Wilson (1731-1788) was a student of electricity and it was but WILSON PORTRAIT WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON WRIGHT PORTRAIT LH eraOUN LIN PORTRAITS Zi natural that he and Franklin should become friends. He wrote a number of books on the subject and was a member of the Royal Society, which awarded him a gold medal. In addition to being a painter he was also an etcher of ability. Joseph Wright, a painter of Franklin portraits, has not usually been given more than passing mention in discussions of the subject, but he is evidently entitled to much more notice than that. According to Mr. Charles Henry Hart, who wrote an extensive communication to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, published in July, 1908, Wright painted three and possibly four portraits of Franklin. He was the son of Patience Wright, an American artist, who modeled a portrait in wax of Franklin that he presented to Mary Hewson, the married daughter of Mrs. Stevenson, at whose house in Craven Street, London, he lived while agent for the Colonies in England. It descended from her to her grandson, C. S. Bradford of West Chester, Pa. Joseph Wright (1756-1793) was born in Bordentown, N. J. He studied in London under Benjamin West and Joseph Hoppner. He painted portraits of the Prince of Wales, afterward George IV of England, and George Washington. The latter said of him that he ‘‘is thought on a former occasion to have taken a better likeness of me than any other painter has done.” Washington appointed him the first engraver and die sinker to the United States Mint, located in Phila- delphia. He designed the first United States coins and medals. In his will he de- scribed himself as “miniature painter and engraver.” It was Mr. Hart’s belief, based upon exhaustive research, that the portrait in the possession of the Royal Society of London ascribed by the Society as ‘‘anony- mous,” the portrait in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington ascribed to Duplessis, that in the Boston Public Library ascribed to Greuze, and that owned by the descendants of Richard Oswald in their ancestral home in Auchincruive, Ayrshire, Scotland, were all executed by Joseph Wright. It will be remembered that Richard Oswald was the “go-between” in the ‘negotiations which finally brought an end to the war between England and the American Colonies. He was a member of the Peace Commission, to the British members of which Caleb Whitefoord was secretary. Whitefoord’s correspond- ence shows that he employed Wright to paint at least three portraits of Franklin. In a letter to the American Philosophical Society dated February 25, 1791, accepting membership in that body, he mentions the Franklin portrait by Wright which he says he had presented to the Royal Society. William Hodgson acted for exchanges of American and British prisoners dur- ing the war. Ina letter written by him October 14, 1782, he says: “If the above bill on L’Orient is honored you will please to apply the whole or what part you please to Mr. Wright for the picture, which when proper opportunity offers, I am expecting.” The Corcoran Gallery picture was purchased in 1885 from Henry Stevens and is inscribed: ‘‘This portrait of Dr. Franklin was painted in Paris in 1782 and was presented by him to Mr. William Hodgson of Coleman Street as a PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO GREUZE THE FRANKLIN PORTRAITS 23 token of his regard and friendship.” Mr. Hart believed this statement to have been made in error so far as the presentation by Franklin to Hodgson is concerned and that the painting is the one by Wright paid for by Hodgson as stated in his letter. The portrait referred to as being in the Boston Public Library was presented to it by Gardner Brewer in 1872. In 185g it was in the possession of Joseph Parkes, son-in-law of Joseph Priestley, the English scientist, who will be recalled as the long-time friend and correspondent of Franklin. Richard Oswald and Benjamin Franklin exchanged portraits. It was because of the three-cornered association between Oswald, Caleb Whitefoord and Joseph Wright, and the further fact that the location of none of the Wright portraits was at that time definitely known, that Hart attributed the portrait in the pos- session of Oswald’s heirs to Wright. R. A. Oswald, a direct descendant, wrote in 1892 that the portrait resembles the Duplessis originals and that he thought it was by that artist, although there is no direct evidence to that effect. The Wright and Duplessis portraits were painted at points not very far distant in time and there is therefore a marked resemblance in them. Jean Baptiste Greuze, a Burgundian, born in 1725 and who lived to be eighty years of age, is probably the best known of the painters who did portraits of Franklin. His was a pastel, executed in 1777. It was thus described by a contem- poraneous French writer: “The portrait of Franklin is especially notable. It would be difficult to find a more characteristic expression. We there see kindliness happily allied to high spirit; an equal love of humanity and hatred of tyranny.” — A copy by Guillaume said to be of the Greuze painting is owned by the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. The original painting was given by Franklin to M. Beyer, a French inventor, employed by the French Government to superin- tend the construction and arrangement of lightning rods on the public edifices and monuments of Paris. He gives the following account of an invention suggested by » Doctor Franklin: ““M. Franklin, during his residence at Paris, desired to have a means of writing without being seen. I invented for him des tablettes mecha- niques, by means of which one may write in his pocket without looking at what he writes, and without danger of making mistakes.” The portrait is supposed to have been presented in return for this kindness. It bears no resemblance to the painting by Greuze, but seems rather a combination of ideas suggested by the por- traits by Peale and Vanloo. David Martin (1736-1798), a Scottish painter and mezzotint engraver, painted what is known as the “thumb portrait” in 1767, while Franklin was in England. It descended to one of Franklin’s sister’s grand-daughters from Robert Alexander, an Edinburgh business man, who was its original purchaser and one of whose descendants she had married. peeanelin evidently was pleased with the portrait, for he ordered a replica, which he left by his will to the Supreme Execu- VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PORTRAIT BY GUILLIAME, EVIDENTLY COPIED FROM THE PORTRAIT BY PEALE MARTIN OR “‘THUMB”” PORTRAIT FRANKLIN DRAWING ELECTRICITY FROM THE SKY GENERALLY ACCEPTED AS HAVING BEEN PAINTED BY BENJAMIN WEST THE PRANK LIN. PORTRAITS 27 tive Council of Philadelphia. It is now in the possession of the American Philo- sophical Society in Philadelphia, and there are replicas in the Pennsylvania Acad- emy of Fine Arts and Independence Hall. Another Martin portrait is in the pos- session of a private collector in Philadelphia, that is said by some experts to be a copy by Peale. And there is a copy by Alexander in the main building of the Philadelphia Public Library. Charles. Nicholas Cochin the Younger (1715-1790) drew what is known as the “fur cap” portrait in 1777, a year after Franklin arrived in Paris to take up his duties as one of the representatives of the newly-formed American nation. The original is now lost. Franklin had written, a few days after his arrival in Paris, to Mary Hewson in London: ‘Figure to yourself an old man with gray hair, appearing under a martin fur cap among the powdered heads of Paris. It is this odd figure that salutes you with handfuls of blessings on you and your little ones.” Three days later the French police entered this description on their record: “Dr. Franklin lately arrived in this country. This Quaker wears the full costume of his sect. He has an agreeable physiognomy, spectacles always on his eyes, but little hair; a fur cap is always on his head. He wears no powder; tidy in his dress; very white linen. His only defence is a walking stick.” A letter written by Thomas Pownall to Franklin, February 28, 1783, is evi- dence that Benjamin West painted a portrait of Franklin, but its whereabouts is unknown. The letter says: “I am this day made happy by having received and hung up an excellent portrait of you, my old friend, copied from that which West did for you.” West is said to have made a pencil sketch of an unidentified bust of Franklin that was bought by John Wanamaker at the sale of the collection of ex-Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker of Pennsylvania in 1905. In West’s un- completed study in oil of “the United States Commissioners in 1782 to Sign the Treaty of Independence” Franklin appears as one of the five. West (1738-1820) was born in Chester (now Delaware) County, Pennsylvania. He spent three years in Rome, going to London in 1763. George III appointed him historical painter to the Court, and offered him knighthood, which he refused. He was the first painter to abandon Greek and Roman and introduce modern costumes in histor- ical paintings. He was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. But little is known of what is called the Vanloo portrait. There were two French painters, brothers, named Vanloo, but the survivor of the two died in 1765, eleven years before Franklin went to live in France, although he had previously made visits there. It is within the possibilities that one or both of the Vanloos were in London during Franklin’s long residence in England. Mrs. Oliver Champlain made a copy of the Vanloo portrait that is now in the hands of a private owner. The portrait by Charles W. Peale (1741-1827), a pupil of Benjamin West, the last to be made during Franklin’s lifetime, was painted in 1787. Franklin was eighty-one years of age and was serving as governor (or president, as it was called then) of Pennsylvania and was also attending the sessions of the Consti- FRENCH INTERPRETATION OF PEALE PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO VANLOO COCHIN “‘FUR CAP” PORTRAIT PEALE PORTRAIT PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS ’ L HOSPITAL PORTRAIT UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LONGACRE PORTRAIT CAPITOL, HARRISBURG, PA. RECENTLY DISCOVERED FOLGER PORTRAIT RECENTLY DISCOVERED PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO HENRY BENBRIDGE PORTRAIT ATTRIBUTED TO GAINSBOROUGH UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 36 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE tutional Convention. Peale was born at Chesterton, Md., and was apprenticed to a saddler at Annapolis. He first studied art in Boston under Copley and later under West in London. Returning to America, he served as a volunteer in the American Army. He painted several portraits of Washington and also of most of the prominent men of his time. In the provost’s house at the University of Pennsylvania is a portrait of Frank- lin by J. F. De L’ Hospital, painted in Paris in 1779 for Franklin’s friend, Count St. Marys. It was presented to the university in 1887 by Lieutenant Joseph Beale, U.S.N. A Franklin portrait by J. B. Longacre hangs in the governor’s office in the State Capitol at Harrisburg, Pa. It was copied from the Duplessis miniature owned by Mrs. Davis of Philadelphia. The Folger portrait is so called because it was in the possession of the Folger family for more thana century. Abiah Folger, Josiah Franklin’s second wife, was Benjamin Franklin’s mother. The portrait was made in Philadelphia probably between 1750 and 1757. It was presented by Franklin to the Folger family, then living on Nantucket Island. It passed to a Mrs. Temple and was owned by her and her descendants for a long time. The name of the artist is unknown. Henry Benbridge, an American painter born in Philadelphia in"1744, painted a portrait of Franklin in London in 1770 that subsequently disappeared. A Frank- lin portrait that is believed to be the long lost work by Benbridge came into the market in 1925. It is on canvas 25x 30 inches in size and is in a good state of preservation. It is unsigned but the experts agree that it is in Benbridge’s manner. A Franklin portrait hangs in the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Mass., but no facts about its history are known. Among the portraits of doubtful authenticity the earliest is called the Sumner. It is in Memorial Hall at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. The artist is unknown. It is said to have been presented by Franklin to John Franklin of New- port, who married the grandmother of Thomas W. Sumner of Brookline, Mass. It is supposed to represent Franklin at twenty. At that time of his life he was living in straightened circumstances in London and it is reasonable to suppose that he had neither the money with which to buy the fine clothes shown in the picture nor to meet the expense of having his portrait painted. He could have borrowed or hired the clothes, of course, and the expense of the painting was not insur- mountable, but there is another and better reason for doubt about the painting. This period of Franklin’s life is fully covered by the Autobiography, but no men- tion is made in it of the painting. Other events of lesser import are set forth in detail, which leads to the belief that the painting was not made with Franklin as the original. Hart absolutely rejected it. . There is a painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York done by Stephen Elmer and known as the Elmer portrait of Benjamin Franklin. It was engraved and published by T. Ryder in 1782 with the title of “The Politician.” PH EROPRANK EIN PORTRAITS 37 In 1824 the plate was re-issued and given the name of Franklin. It bears no re- semblance to any other Franklin portrait and should not be included among them. There are two so-called Gainsborough portraits of Franklin. One was bought at Chrystie’s in London in 1go1 by Mr. Joseph G. Rosengarten, who was chair- man of the Library Committee of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and by him presented to the University. Hart questioned its authenticity. The other is in the collection of the Marquis of Landsdowne in England and is not now regarded as a Franklin portrait. Hart conjectured it to be a portrait of Wil- liam Franklin, Benjamin’s son, who became royal governor of the Province of New Jersey. THE FRANKLIN®STATUES HE first statue of Benjamin Franklin was erected in Boston. It was the result of a suggestion by Honorable Robert C. Winthrop in an address made by him the evening of November 29, 1853, before the Massachu- setts Charitable Mechanic Association under the title of “Archimedes and Franklin.” Mr. Winthrop called attention to the fact that no statue of Frank- lin was to be found anywhere and suggested that the association take in hand the matter of erecting one in Boston. At a meeting of the government of the associa- tion at the house of the president ten days later a resolution was introduced and passed to appoint a committee to take the matter in charge. This committee was _ appointed at a meeting on January 17th. Other associations were invited to take part in the project, as follows: Franklin Typographical Society, the Mercantile Library Association, the Mechanic Ap- prentices’ Library Association and the Franklin Medal Scholars. Richard S. Greenough was commissioned to design and model the statue. A striking feature of the design he later submitted and which was accepted con- sisted of four panels representing in bas-relief incidents in Franklin’s life. They were: Franklin working his press, Experimenting with electricity, Signing the Declaration of Independence and Concluding the Treaty of Peace. The date selected for the unveiling was September 17, 1856, the anniversary of the founding of the city. The buildings and streets were gaily decorated and the procession of notables and societies was five miles long. Forty-seven trades were represented in floats drawn by men, horses and oxen. The printers, of course, played a considerable part. On one car was a wooden screw press bearing the date 1742 and said to have been used at one time by James Franklin. Reprints of the issue of the New England Courant for February 11, 1723, which was the first one to bear the name of the youthful Benjamin Franklin as publisher, were issued from it as it passed along and were thrown to the bystanders. The next car bore a modern equipment. One item was a cylinder press, of which a chronicler of the time said, “the use of steam not being available, the press is operated by means of a hand crank and wheel.” The exercises in connection with the unveiling took place at two o’clock on the grounds of the City Hall, where the statue had been placed. The Reverend George W. Blagden, pastor of the Old South Church and a lineal descendant of the clergyman who one hundred and fifty years before had performed the rite of baptism upon the day-old Benjamin Franklin, delivered the invocation. Hon- orable Robert C. Winthrop delivered the inaugural oration. Frederic W. Lincoln, Junior, the chairman of the general committee and president of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, formally accepted the statue and in his turn presented it to the city authorities. Honorable Alexander H. Rice, mayor of BOSTON GREENOUGH STATUE, 40 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE Boston, accepted the statue in the name of the city. An exhibition by the fire department on Boston Common concluded the exercises. The expense of the statue and the attendant exercises was met by public sub- scription in amounts varying from one to three hundred dollars, the total being nearly twenty thousand dollars. The Franklin statue in Printing House Square in New York was unveiled January 17, 1872. It was designed by Ernst Plassman and was a gift to the print- ing and publishing fraternity of New York by Captain Albert DeGroot at a cost - of $15,000, with $5,000 extra for the pedestal. Ground for the cornerstone was broken on October 2, 1871, and the cornerstone and pedestal were laid with masonic ceremonies twenty-four days later. John H. Anthon, grand master, pre- sided. Into the cornerstone was fitted a box containing the following: Constitution of the United States. Constitution of the State of New York. Manual of the State of New York. Corporation Manual of the City of New York. Parton’s Life of Franklin. Copy of the Holy Scriptures. Map of New York City. Appleton’s Railway Guide. Hoe’s Catalog of Printing Machines. Type Founders’ Specimen Books. Almanacs, Calendars and Business Cards of New. York Printers. New York City Newspapers. Illustrated Papers and Map of Chicago, describing its recent conflagration. The unveiling ceremonies were presided over by Professor Samuel B. Morse, others present being Horace Greeley, Peter Cooper,and Benjamin Franklin Bache, a descendant. The Reverend Doctor Deems, pastor of the Church of the Strangers, offered a prayer, after which Professor Morse made a short opening address. Horace Greeley on behalf of Captain DeGroot made the presentation address, which was responded to by Charles C. Savage, president of the board of trustees of the New York Typographical Society. A banquet in celebration of the event was held in the evening at Delmonico’s on Fourteenth Street. Plates were laid for 136. At the guest table were the Reverend Doctor $. Irenaeus Prime, who presided, supported on his right by Captain DeGroot and on his left by. Horace Greeley. Among the many other distinguished guests were Peter Cooper, Peter S. and Robert Hoe, Theodore L. DeVinne, Augustin Daly, Benjamin Franklin Bache and Reverend Richard Duane, descendants of Franklin, and others. At each plate was a copy of a facsimile of the Pennsylvania Gazette of Sep- tember 10, 1741. Responses to toasts were made as follows: ““The State of New York and the City of New York,” Honorable A. Oakey Hall, mayor; “Benjamin Franklin,” Horace Greeley; “Honesty the Best Policy,” Reverend Henry Ward Beecher; PLASSMAN STATUE PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE, NEW YORK 42 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE “Our Country,” Reverend Doctor E. H. Chapin; “The Press,” Honorable Erastus Brooks; “The Working Press,” Peter C. Baker and C. A. Alvord; “American Literature,” Doctor E. S. Porter; “Our Mothers and Our Wives, Our Daughters and Our Sisters,”? H. O. Houghton, mayor of Cambridge, Mass.; “The Kite, the Key and the Telegraph,” Thomas N. Rooker, of the New York Tribune. Captain DeGroot also made a short address. The Reverend Doctor Duane, a lineal descendant of Franklin, was introduced. He exhibited two miniature por- traits preserved in the family, one of Benjamin Franklin taken by order of Louis XVI, and the other of the “Grand Monarch” himself presented by him to Benjamin Franklin. The last was the one referred to in Franklin’s will, set with 408 diamonds. Captain Albert DeGroot, donor of the statue, was a retired steamboat captain. He introduced the modern style of ornate steamboat decoration in the “Jenny Lind” which he constructed about the time the Swedish Nightingale came to America. During the Civil War he built the steamers “Resolute” and “Reliance,” both of which became famous in the naval service. There are several statues of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, the principal one being the bronze seated figure by John J. Boyle on Chestnut Street in front of the main post office building. The others are: The marble figure by Lazzarini, occupying a niche over the doorway of the Philadelphia Library, which is the oldest, having been presented by William Bingham after Franklin’s death; the bronze statue by Professor R. Tait McKenzie, picturing Franklin as a youth as he landed in Philadelphia, in front of the gymnasium building of the University of Pennsylvania, and the heroic-size (10/2 feet high) brownstone figure of Franklin, by Joseph A. Bailly, which adorned the old Puélic Ledger building at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, but which on the demolition of the building was placed in storage. The Boyle statue stands on the site of the old University of Pennsylvania, of which Franklin was the founder, and it is said that this is the approximate loca- tion of his famous experiment with a kite “to bring down electricity from the sky.” This statue was presented to the city of Philadelphia by Justus C. Straw- bridge June 14, 1899. Preceding the ceremonies on that date, at the old Chestnut Street Opera House, a luncheon was served at the University Club, attended by many prominent guests. Postmaster-General Charles Emory Smith bade them welcome in a short address. Others present were: Justus C. Strawbridge, Wilson S. Bissell and Thomas L. James, former postmasters-general; Josiah Quincy, mayor of Boston; Samuel H. Ashbridge, mayor of Philadelphia; Edwin S. Stuart and Charles F. Warwick, former mayors of Philadelphia; Charles C. Harrison, provost of the University of Pennsylvania; A. H. Fetterolf, president of Girard College; Richard Rath- bun, of the Smithsonian Institution; E. D. Warfield, president of Lafayette Col- lege; Henry A. Rowland, of Johns Hopkins University; David P. Todd, of BOYLE STATUE, PHILADELPHIA REPLICA IN PARIS MC KENZIE STATUE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA THE FRANKLIN STATUES 45 Amherst College; John Birkinbine, of the Franklin Institute; Coleman Sellers, chairman of the committee; Honorable James M. Beck, orator of the day; John J. Boyle, sculptor; E. A. Pesoli, French consul; Judge Pennypacker, Honorable Henry H. Bingham, Franklin Bache, Doctor Thomas Dunn English, Paul Lei- cester Ford, Sydney George Fisher, and L. Clarke Davis. The committee in charge represented institutions which were directly or indi- rectly brought into being by Benjamin Franklin. This committee was as follows: Doctor Charles Custis Harrison, provost of the University of Pennsylvania; Doctor Coleman Sellers, vice-president of the American Philosophical Society; James G. Barnwell, Esq., librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia, Benjamin H. Shoemaker, Esq., president of the Pennsylvania Hospital; Judge Samuel W. Pennypacker, of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and John Birkinbine, E'sq., president of the Franklin Institute. Charles W. Duane, of Cambridge, Mass., was chief marshal, and the assistant marshals were Franklin Bache, R. Norris Williams, Benjamin Franklin Pepper and Thomas Leiper Hodge, all descendants of Benjamin Franklin. The meeting at the Opera House was called to order by Eugene Ellicott, assist- ant to Charles C. Harrison, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who intro- duced the provost. The next speaker was Honorable James M. Beck, then United States attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who delivered an elo- quent address on the life and work of Benjamin Franklin. He was followed by Honorable Josiah Quincy, mayor of Boston, who also spoke very eloquently of “Poor Richard.” . After the conclusion of Mayor Quincy’s address the audience proceeded to the Post Office building, where the statue was ready to be unveiled. The presentation speech in behalf of the donor, Mr. Strawbridge, was made by Postmaster-General Smith, who among other words, said: “‘If you would see the monument of Frank- lin, look wherever American greatness spreads its influence, and wherever con- spicuous service to mankind is remembered.” He recalled the fact that Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster-General of the United American Colonies. At the close of Mr. Smith’s address, the monument was unveiled by Miss Mar- garet Hartman Bache, a descendant of Franklin, amid the waving of American flags and the cheers of the multitude. Honorable Samuel H. Ashbridge, mayor of Philadelphia, then formally accepted the statue in the name of the city. The statue by Professor R. Tait McKenzie was presented to the University of Pennsylvania by the class of 1904 on June 16, 1914. It stands on the university grounds in front of the gymnasium facing Thirty-third Street. Honorable James M. Beck delivered the oration at the unveiling. The Franklin statue in Paris was placed there through the generosity of John Henry Harjes, who was responsible for the installation of other statues in various cities both in this country and Europe, notable among them being that of George Washington, which adorns the Place d’Iena in Paris. Mr. Harjes was a banker ————— ee —_ STATUE BY R. H. PARK IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO REPLICA IN NEW ORLEANS MARBLE STATUE BY HIRAM POWERS IN CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON REPLICA IN NEW ORLEANS who was for many years head of the Paris branch of Drexel & Company, of Philadelphia. The city of Paris allotted a beautiful site for the statue at the entrance into the Place du Trocadero of the Rue Franklin, the street in what was called Passy, now a part of Paris, on which Franklin dwelt as minister to the Court of France for the nine years beginning 1776. The unveiling took place April 27, 1906, celebrating the two hundredth anni- versary of Franklin’s birth. Honorable Robert S. McCormick, ambassador from the United States to France, presided. Professor Albert Henry Smyth, of the BARTLETT STATUE IN WATERBURY, CONN. Ea Dehra Rd oS. ATOLLS 49 University of Pennsylvania and editor of the best edition of Franklin’s works, delivered the oration. Addresses were made by M. Barthou, Minister of Public Works; Mr. Harjes; M. Chautard, president of the Municipal Council of Paris, and M. Autrand, secretary-general of the Prefecture of the Seine. An interesting incident of the ceremonies was the presentation to Professor Smyth of the insignia of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. The statue is a replica of that by Boyle in front of the post office in Philadel- phia. The pediment was the work of a young American architect, Charly Knight. On its side are bas-reliefs showing the reception of Franklin by Louis XVI in 1778 and the signing of the Peace of Paris in 1783, executed by Frederic Brou. The bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin, ‘‘Printer-Statesman,” in Lincoln Park, Chicago, was presented by Joseph Medill, founder and editor of the Chi- cago Tribune, through the Old Time Printers Association, acting as custodian, to the Lincoln Park Board of Commissioners. The sculptor was R. H. Park. The unveiling of the statue took place June 6, 1896. The speaker of the occasion was the Honorable H. D. Estabrook, of New York. He delivered an'‘address which has been proclaimed a “masterpiece of wit HOUDON BUST , 582) ws : sv . . | ; ie rr arr eT a aa DP Ren ca Cape eS ey PA RDA Tt ROSE ne ea te ss : z t pe BARTLETT STATUE IN WATERBURY, CONN. and eloquence.”” William Penn Nixon, editor of the Chicago Imter-Ocean at that time and later a member of the Lincoln Park Board, represented the Board at the event. John J. Flinn, editor of the Chicago Odserver, read an ode to Franklin. P. F. Pettibone spoke for the employing printers of Chicago. On the speakers’ platform during the presentation were: M. J. Carroll, Joseph Medill, Lambert Tree, Judge Tully, Thomas Brennan, Conrad Kahler, H. D. Estabrook, William Penn Nixon and thirteen girls representing the original colonies. . Mr. Medill delivered the presentation address. In explaining his reasons for selecting the Old Time Printers Association as custodian of the statue, he said he had done so because it was ‘‘a social organization to promote good fellowship, smooth down rufHled rivalries, celebrate the recurring anniversaries of ‘our patron saint,’ and relate the reminiscences of the rise and progress of the printer’s business in Chicago.” The guest of honor was Rene Bache, a great-great-grandson of STATUE IN WEISSPORT, PA. 52 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE Franklin. As the statue’s covering fell, the “Star Spangled Banner” was rendered by the Second Regiment Band and a double quartet. A replica of the Park statue in Chicago has been erected in New Orleans. The first statue to be erected in Washington is located in the Senate wing of the Capitol. It is in marble and was done by Hiram Powers. Powers was born in Vermont in 1805. He settled permanently in Florence, Italy, in 1837, and died there in 1873. He is best known by his “‘Greek Slave.” He received $10,000 for the Franklin statue, which was erected in 1863. The Franklin statue on Pennsylvania avenue in Washington was erected in 1889 at the expense of Stilson Hutchins, publisher of one of the Washington newspapers. It is one of the few statues to emphasize the word “printer,” the word appearing on the main front of the pedestal. The other three sides bear the word “philosopher,” “patriot,” and “philanthropist.” It was designed by Ernst Plassman. The marble statue of Benjamin Franklin in New Orleans is a replica of that in the Capitol in Washington, done by Powers. When Powers first went to Italy to study art a number of New Orleans people, in order to assist him financially, ordered from him a statue of Benjamin Franklin, for which they paid him five thousand dollars in advance. This was in 1844. The statue was not completed until more than twenty-five years later. It arrived in New Orleans in 1871, but through some mistake was offered for sale and was bought by Charles A. Weed, owner of the New Orleans Tzmes, who gave it to the city. It was originally placed in the center of Lafayette Square, afterwards being removed to the Camp Street side, in order to make room for a large bronze monu- ment of Henry Clay. As exposure to the weather began to injure it, it was removed into the Public Library, where it is now located. The Franklin statue in Jersey City is located in the main office and factory of the American Type Founders Company on Communipaw Avenue. It also was designed by Ernst Plassman, and originally stood in front of the Staats-Zeitung building on the north side of Printing House Square in New York. It followed that newspaper to its later location in the building Robert Bonner, publisher of the New York Ledger, erected at Spruce and William Streets, to house that publica- tion, and when the Staats-Zeitung got into business difficulties during the World War, the Franklin statue and its companion, the Gutenberg statue, were sold to the American Type Founders Company and removed to Jersey City. The Franklin statue that for many years stood over the doorway of the old Harper building in Franklin Square was erected in the early forties. The square was named after Walter Franklin, a merchant. The statue, which is of gray stone, is about seven feet in height. When the building was demolished it was presented to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. The bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin in Waterbury, Conn., was placed there in 1921 through a bequest in the will of Elisha Leavenworth, a merchant of ORNAMENTAL MINIATURE BOXES HUNTINGTON COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK MINIATURE FRANKLIN BUSTS HUNTINGTON COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK - eee 8 f FRANKLIN STATUETTES HUNTINGTON COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK FRANKLIN SERVICE PLATES HUNTINGTON COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK oy ve if MEDALLIONS AND MINIATURES HUNTINGTON COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK 58 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN OIL AND BRONZE that city. It was designed by Paul W. Bartlett, of Washington, and cast in Baltimore. Its completion in Baltimore was marked by exercises at which were present Honorable Jules Jusserand, ambassador, and Honorable Rene Viviani, special envoy from the French Republic.. The statue had an interesting journey from Baltimore to Waterbury, follow- ing, though in reverse, somewhat the journey taken by Benjamin Franklin, when as a youth of seventeen, he went from Boston to New York and Philadelphia in search of employment. It was taken to Philadelphia, then to Burlington, N. J., then on to New York, and from New York to Boston, and from Boston to Water- bury. Organizations of printers, electricians, opticians and others took charge of it along the route and many interesting exercises were held in connection with the various visits. At the unveiling in Waterbury, two descendants, Mrs. Anne Duane and Franklin Bache Huntington, were present. A stone monument commemorating Franklin’s military service was erected at Weissport (originally known as Gnaddenhutten) in 1922. In 1756 Franklin was commissioned a colonel and directed to erect fortifications to protect Phila- delphia from armed attack. Proceeding to Gnaddenhutten, his command erected three forts, one of which he commissioned Fort Allen, and it was on the site of this fort, now marked only by a well that was dug within its confines, that the statue was erected. It bears this inscription: ‘Erected by the Improved Order of Red Men of Pennsylvania, the PublicSchools of Carbon County and Grateful Friends.” Of the life-size busts of Franklin the most worthy of note are those by Jean Antoine Houdon (1740-1828) and Jean Jacques Caffieri (1725-1792). Six Franklin busts are known to have been modeled by Houdon: one in marble, done in 1778, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; one in bronze, privately owned in Philadelphia; and four in plaster. To the marble bust, a great modern sculptor, Rodin, paid a high tribute when he said: “Behold, all alive, one of the ancestors of modern America.” Houdon did busts and statues of many prominent personages of his time. 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