(Ca. 1780s) Benjamin Franklin portrait medallion by Wedgwood. Jasperware, white relief on solid blue ground. In contemporary fine ormolu (gilt brass) frame with mount and ring. 88 x 118 mm. Reilly and Savage type b.

Bare-headed bust of Franklin to left on obverse, after Hackwood's original. Back impressed WEDGWOOD at center with two large firing holes. Four provenance labels, pencil inscription noting provenance to the Bohn Collection at center. Housed in a beautifully gilt frame, intricately designed and still bright, with a lovely floral spray at top. A significant chip is seen within the prongs of the frame back at lower right, but obverse appears flawless as framed. A simply beautiful piece with a magnificent provenance. Samuel B. Oster illustrated this piece in his article "Portraits by a Potter" in the magazine Antiques in January 1953 (p. 53). Mr. Margolis noted that the 1971 Sotheby's description's statement that this medallion had been displayed at the Smithsonian in 1967 appears incorrect, though Oster's medallions of William Franklin and William Temple Franklin were apparently present. A beautiful presentation, ready to be hung and proudly displayed.

From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from the Bohn Collection; Sotheby's (London) sale of the Catherine and Samuel Oster of Philadelphia Collection, Part I, November 1971, lot 312A; Skinner's sale of the Dr. Alvin Kanter Collection, April 2003, lot 224 (at $4,230).

Estimate: $2500