Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, Signed by Jacques Reich, Circa 1897

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Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, Signed by Jacques Reich, Circa 1897

About the Item

Presented is a head and shoulders portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Jacques Reich. Reich completed the etching in 1897 and signed the print in pencil at the bottom right hand corner. Jacques Reich was Hungarian-born portrait etcher, active mainly in the United States. After studying at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Reich established a studio in New York City in 1885. Working on private commissions and portrait designs for Appelton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography and Scribner’s Cylodaedia of Painters and Paintings, Reich honed his portraiture technique and skill. In the early 1890s, Reich began working on copper plates, etching a series of 14 portraits of American and English artists, writers, and poets. Reich completed a series of etched portraits titled “Famous Americans,” which depicts 25 subjects, and includes Hamilton, Carnegie, Curtis, Roosevelt, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Franklin, as displayed here. The Franklin portrait is a beautifully executed etching. Reich based his portrait on the famous 1777 Charles Nicholas Cochin drawing. Franklin is depicted in a simple suit, glasses, and a large beaver fur hat. When Franklin traveled to France in 1776, hoping for support against the British monarchy, he forwent the formal attire of the French court and instead wore a homespun brown suit and a large fur hat. This strange outfit garnered much attention at court and helped cultivate interest in the man, as well as his cause. The beaver hat, round spectacles, and plain attire can be seen in many painted and engraved likenesses of Franklin. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was a true renaissance man. He was an author, politician, scientist, inventor, and diplomat. Franklin was instrumental in the formation of the United States and served as the country's first ambassador to France. He is the only Founding Father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris (1783), and the Constitution (1787). Benjamin Franklin was born in colonial Boston in 1706. Although he had little in terms of formal education, by age 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer, later contributing essays, under the pseudonym Silence Dogood. After working as a printer in Boston, Philadelphia, and London, Franklin opened his own printing shop in Philadelphia in 1728. His business was highly successful and printed government pamphlets, books, and currency. In 1729, Franklin became the owner and publisher of a colonial newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, to which he contributed much of the content, often using pseudonyms. He achieved financial success with “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which he published every year from 1733 to 1758. Franklin was deeply involved in the civic affairs of his city. He helped launch a lending library, the city’s first fire company and police patrol, and organized the Pennsylvania militia. He founded the American Philosophical Society, raised funds for a city hospital, and was instrumental in the creation of the Academy of Philadelphia. Franklin also was a key figure in the colonial postal system. In 1737, the British appointed him postmaster of Philadelphia and became joint postmaster general for all the American colonies in 1753. Retirement from his printing business in the 1740s allowed Franklin the time to concentrate on public service and also pursue his longtime interest in science. He conducted experiments that contributed to the understanding of electricity, and invented the lightning rod, which protected buildings from fires caused by lightning. In 1752, his famous kite experiment demonstrated that lightning is electricity. Franklin also coined a number of electricity-related terms, including battery, charge, and conductor. Franklin studied a number of other topics, including ocean currents, meteorology, causes of the common cold, and refrigeration, and his studies in light refraction lead to the invention of bifocals. In 1757, Franklin traveled to London as a representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly. There, he worked to settle a tax dispute and other issues involving descendants of William Penn, the owners of the colony of Pennsylvania. When the British aimed to exert even more financial control over the colonies, Franklin testified in the British Parliament against the Stamp Act of 1765. He returned to Philadelphia in May 1775, shortly after the start of the Revolutionary War. He served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and in 1776 he was part of the five-member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence. That same year, Congress sent Franklin to France to enlist help with the Revolutionary War. In February 1778, the French signed a military alliance with America and went on to provide the soldiers, supplies, and money that proved critical to America’s victory in the war. As minister to France, Franklin also helped negotiate and draft the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. In 1787, Franklin, then 81 years old, was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. At the end of the convention, in September 1787, he urged his fellow delegates to support the heavily debated Constitution. Thanks to his influence and support, the Constitution was ratified by the required nine states in June 1788. Franklin died at the age of 84, on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia. CONDITION: Very good condition. Paper is healthy, with only moderate toning. Publication information printed at bottom right. Pencil signed by Jacques Reich at bottom right, in the margin. Framed according to conservation standards with an acid-free green mat, UV glass, and a custom-built wooden frame. Framed dimensions: 16 3/4" H x 13 1/4" W x 1" D.

Dimensions:
Height: 16.75 in (42.55 cm)Width: 13.25 in (33.66 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Style:
Federal (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper,Engraved,Etched
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1890-1899
Date of Manufacture:
1897
Condition:
Additions or alterations made to the original: Framed according to conservation standards with an acid-free green mat, UV glass, and a custom-built wooden frame. Framed by Rio Grande Custom Framing in Colorado Springs, CO in July of 2024. Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading.
Seller Location:
Colorado Springs, CO
Reference Number:
Seller: PR4781stDibs: LU909740807732

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