Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
Benjamin Franklin (Boston 17 gennaio 1706 –Philadelphia,17 aprile 1790), scienziato e politico statunitense, aveva una collezione di opere d’arte, che fu in seguito venduta.
Nella sua collezione fu trovato un Portrait ovale in maiolica italiana, firmata da C. Brunacci di Cortona.
Sarebbe interessante trovare oggi il proprietario per fotografare l’opera d’arte e rintracciare il Brunacci C. (forse “Carlo”?)
Riporto qui di seguito il testo originale trovato in;
Designs Relating To Franklin
(Originally Published Early 1900’s )
THE great popularity and long residence of Benjamin Franklin abroad would account for the many and varied ceramic relics relating to him that were manufactured in England and France during his lifetime, and that are still in existence, more varied in quality and shape even than those relating to Washington. Nor after his death did the production cease. I will place at the head of the list the most beautiful of them all.
67. Franklin. Portrait Plaque.
Oval plaque of Italian majolica marked with inscription, “Cortoni Fab Alari.. Beniamino Franklin, C. Brunacci Depinse.” In the Huntington Collection. There are also three other majolica plates and plaques in this collection hearing portraits of Franklin.
I may say, in conclusion, what I have already shown in detail, that there can be no better opportunity of studying the face of Franklin, as shown in pottery and porcelain, than in the Huntington Collection. There are eleven relief medallions, eleven enamels, nine busts, six statues, and a large number of plates and plaques. You can also compare these ceramic portraits with innumerable bronzes, engravings, art gems, cameos, gold and silver and pewter work bearing the same serene, benignant face, and with some very funny though unintentional caricatures of Franklin by Japanese and Chinese artists, in some of which the well-known fur-cap has been transformed into a close crop of short woolly curls.