Statue of Benjamin Franklin 1800 - 1880

Curator: Okay, let's turn our attention to this intriguing sculpture. It's a porcelain statue of Benjamin Franklin, created sometime between 1800 and 1880 by the Staffordshire Potteries. What strikes you first about it? Editor: Honesty? He looks slightly…uncomfortable. There’s a stiffness about him, like he's been asked to stand still longer than he'd prefer. All that white also washes out the rosy hue in his cheeks—maybe he needs a tan? Curator: Well, the paleness could be a nod to Neoclassical aesthetics, aiming for that idealized, almost marble-like quality. See how his attire references classical forms, with that flowing robe-like coat? It’s interesting how they try to ennoble a man already so accomplished! Editor: True, there’s something almost…sanitized about it, isn't it? But also a kind of naive charm to the coloration. Those patches of, is that supposed to be rouge on his cheeks, feels accidental somehow, but humanizes the whole thing, it’s very...decorative-art. And porcelain, always so determined to break…there’s this built-in pathos that can be funny. Curator: That tension between grandeur and… fragility? It’s compelling. I’m intrigued by his pose, too. He holds a scroll or document—presumably something vital to the new republic. There is so much semiotic loading through pose and attribute, it’s as if every inch wants to broadcast virtue and enlightenment. But the face gives little away… Editor: Right, like he's pondering his next kite experiment while being forced to pose like some Roman senator. He must've had such incredible stories, what this statue communicates isn't his warmth, it’s ambition mixed with skepticism. Look there, at the name on the plinth – is that “Washington?” Curator: Oh my god! Oh no… oh wow. Did they make a mistake?! You are right, that actually reads as Washington not Franklin on the plinth, this throws the entire reading of the work into another space entirely, what do we make of that misattribution I wonder… Editor: Oh that’s just brilliant. Well, you know… sometimes it is the imperfection that adds something extraordinary to a work of art! Curator: Yes. Exactly! So maybe this odd likeness with the wonky name… captures Franklin's subversive wit after all. Maybe we were all a bit wrong!