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1777 Benjamin Franklin Nini Terra Cotta Plaque Medallion By Jean-Baptiste Nini

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:2,800.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 4,500.00 USD
1777 Benjamin Franklin Nini Terra Cotta Plaque Medallion By Jean-Baptiste Nini
American Revolution
1777 Benjamin Franklin Terra Cotta Medallion By “Nini” Variety with Franklin Wearing His Famous Beaver Fur Hat
1777-Dated Revolutionary War Period. Decorative Benjamin Franklin Portrait Terra Cotta Plaque Medallion. By Jean-Baptiste Nini. Betts-247, Greenslet GM-5. Choice Near Mint.
This large size 4.5” (115 mm), High Relief Portrait Medallion of Benjamin Franklin is made of Terra Cotta (fired ceramic clay). It was produced in France by the famous period Sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Nini during the height of Ben Franklin’s popularity with the French. Nini made a small variety of different Franklin medallions in Terra Cotta for sale in both France and America. This variety displays Franklin wearing his famous Beaver Fur Hat, with the inscription, “B. Franklin - Americain.” Nini has both signed and dated in text on the truncation of Franklin’s bust with “NINI - 1777” and added his personal arms as well.

The circa 2005 John Ford Jr. Collection Sale contained two similar Terra Cotta Plaques by Nini, where one very choice sold for $5,750 while a lesser quality example sold for $3,220. This current “Nini” Medallion is quite impressive and of Museum quality for display having some light cabinet friction and with its standard preparation for mounting at top or hanging on a wall. Overall, a wonderful specimen of this Contemporary Revolutionary War period French Tribute to Benjamin Franklin, shown here as the foremost American Statesman to France.
Jean-Baptiste Nini (1717-1786). French Artist and Medalist active in the mid to late 1700’s. Most of his work consists of Terra-Cotta medallions. Forrer recounts in “Biographical Dictionary of Medallists” that several hundred of Nini’s Benjamin Franklin Terra-Cotta medallions (in various designs) were shipped to America in 1779, but the ship was wrecked off the coast of France. Some of the cases containing the medallions were recovered, but they lay forgotten in a warehouse for nearly a century, until they were finally acquired by a collector who began marketing them during the Centennial in 1876.