Figure of Benjamin Franklin
Unknown Artist
1835–45
Medium
Earthenware, transfer-printed
Dimensions
H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)
Classification
Figure
Culture
British (American market)
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883
Accession Number
83.2.258
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming earthenware figure of Benjamin Franklin, crafted by an unknown artist between 1835 and 1845, stands at 14¾ inches tall and captures the Founding Father's likeness in a dignified pose. Produced in Britain specifically for the American market, it exemplifies the popular Staffordshire pottery tradition, where affordable ceramic sculptures adorned middle-class homes as symbols of patriotism and admiration for historical icons. Transfer-printing—a technique that allowed intricate portraits to be mass-produced by printing designs onto paper, then transferring them to unglazed clay befo...