Figure of Benjamin Franklin

Dateca. 1830

Sitter Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

MediumEarthenware, lead-glazed (pearlware)

DimensionsOH: 15 1/2"; OW: 7 1/2"; OD: 3 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1977-15

DescriptionBenjamin Franklin stands with a tricorn hat under his left arm and a scroll of paper in his right hand. He wears a coat over a ruffled shirt and waistcoat and knee britches. He is supported on a woodsy base, with an inscription in gold script.

Label TextWhy does this figure depict Benjamin Franklin, but is titled “Washington”?

English published sources and collection databases date these figures to the 19th century. This figure is of the type that has been attributed to John Parr or Kent & Parr. These potters were working in Burslem, Staffordshire and are well-known for their portrait figures.

According to P.D. Gordon Pugh, an authority on Staffordshire figures of the Victorian Era, there are many examples of the same likeness bearing different titles. For example, ‘Eugenie and Napoleon’ are also titled ‘Queen [Victoria] and Albert’; ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ is sometimes found as ‘Prince of Wales’; in this case with the exception of one existing figure, all recorded Victorian figures of Washington are in fact misnamed figures of Franklin. According to Pugh this makes sense because demand for images of these two men would have arisen at the same time.

Also of interest is that it seems that portrait figures of Americans were intended for British consumption, not American. Staffordshire tableware glutted the American market, but relatively few figures were actually exported.

Some examples of this same figure from the mid-to-late 19th century are titled ‘The Old English Gentleman’. According to Pugh a possible explanation of this had to do with the unpopularity of the United States in the late 1850s.

While several authors illustrate these figures, they all date them the same and attribute them to the same factories. Unfortunately, they do not speculate further as to why Franklin is misnamed. However, if Queen Victoria and Eugenie can be interchangeable it seems easy to speculate that Franklin and Washington would be as well.
Inscribed"Washington" is marked on the base in gold script.
Markingsno
ProvenanceEx Coll: Winterthur Museum (by Trade)

Exhibition(s)