Skip to main content

Benjamin Franklin

Artist
Hiram Powers, American, 1805–1873
Depicted
Benjamin Franklin, American, 1706–1790
Date
1851–73
Material
Marble
made in
Florence, Italy, Europe
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 x 12 1/2 x 10 in. (45.7 x 31.8 x 25.4 cm)
weight: 48.2 lb. (21.9 kg)
Credit Line
Gift of Judge and Mrs. Orville Richardson in memory of his parents, Minnie Willcott and Frederick Henry Richardson
Rights
Contact Us
Object Number
157:1973
NOTES
Hiram Powers was an American sculptor who began his professional career by making likenesses of important political figures. Among his most popular subjects was Benjamin Franklin, whose likeness Powers first carved as early as 1844. Like many of America's young sculptors at the time, Powers modeled his work after Franklin's authoritative sculpture made by the French sculptor Jean-Antonine Houdon.