Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia

Date1763

Engraver Edward Fisher (1722 - 1782)

After work by Mason Chamberlin (died 1787)

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint with engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 15 1/4 × 11 1/4in. (38.7 × 28.6cm) Other: 15 × 10 15/16in. (38.1 × 27.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1968-154

DescriptionLower margin reads: "M. Chamberlin pinx.t/ E. Fisher fecit./ B: Franklin of Philadelphia L.L.D. F.R.S./ Sold by M,, chamberlin in Stewart Street, Old Artillery Ground, Spitalfields, Price 5:.s"
Label TextThis portrait of statesmen and inventor Benjamin Franklin is based on a painting by painted by Mason Chamberlin while he was in London. Franklin sits at a desk with equipment for his electrical experiment to his left. Outside the window, lightening has damaged a building. Franklin created the lightening rod in the early 1750s.
ProvenanceBefore 1968, Keyman's Antiques (New York, NY); 1968-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).