Benjamin Franklin

Description The signature on this miniature is difficult to read but it may be by Marie François Perier. Franklin was a popular figure in France following the American War of Independence. A similar profile portrait in pencil (although showing Franklin in spectacles) can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It is possible both are after a print.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, by bequest, 1931.

Inscriptions [Signed and dated] lower left: M. Perier (?) / ce 4 janvier 1783.

Credit Probably acquired by Henry Walters