Plate of Benjamin Franklin 1776 - 1883

Curator: Here we have a late 18th, early 19th-century plate made of earthenware. Its decoration features a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Editor: Well, my first thought is: breakfast with a founding father. It's a bit unnerving, frankly. It's such a mundane object, given the subject's importance. Curator: Yes, the seemingly ordinary nature is quite deceptive. The image itself references the Neoclassical style, suggesting reason and order, aligning with the values Franklin embodied for the revolutionaries and subsequent Americans. Plates such as these acted almost like secular icons for revolutionary heroes in homes. Editor: That connection to Neoclassicism is really apparent. But I am immediately drawn to the cracks on its edge. How fragile even these iconic representations are over time, and what was its role and usage to endure that damage? Curator: Consider it as part of its biography – a testament to its journey through history, bearing witness to shifts in taste and meaning. Remember, Franklin’s image here links back to Houdon, a well known neoclassical sculptor. Replicated and reproduced over and over. Franklin was an international celebrity, in ways not altogether dissimilar to contemporary icons of consumer culture. Editor: Ah, so the mass production speaks volumes, quite literally consuming the image of a man who espoused frugality. It's this dissonance between Franklin's philosophy and his commodification that I find compelling. It would have been displayed but also very much a domestic, utilitarian object as well. The plate is earthenware - meaning its for the masses! Curator: Exactly! It shows how quickly ideas and people become things in our society, doesn't it? Food for thought indeed – quite literally. Editor: Indeed, something about the use of everyday objects as commemorations, bringing complex social and political ideas home makes me look differently at it.