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Figure 1979-126
Figure of Benjamin Franklin
Figure 1979-126

Figure of Benjamin Franklin

Dateca. 1830
OriginEngland, Staffordshire
MediumEarthenware, lead-glazed (pearlware)
DimensionsOH: 15"
Credit LineGift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Object number1979-126
DescriptionBenjamin Franklin stands with a black tricorn hat under his left arm and a scroll of paper in his right hand. He wears a light blue coat with orange cuffs and lining over a ruffled white shirt, a yellow waistcoat sprigged with flowers and deep red mottled knee britches. Aso green scarf with orange fringe and black shoes with gold buckles. He is supported on a brown woodsy base, white on the sides with inscription in gold script (see marks).
Label TextWhy does this figure depict Benjamin Franklin, but is titled “General 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"General Washington"
ProvenanceEx-collection: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, Bassett Hall