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Lot 33

French, late 18th century
A bronze portrait medallion of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Sculpture
15 April 2008, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£2,500 - £3,500

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French, late 18th century
A bronze portrait medallion of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

shown bare-headed in profile to the left, after Jean-Baptiste Nini (1717-1786), signed J.B. NINI F., MDCCLXXIX (1779), 15.8cm diameter, (6" diameter).

Footnotes

Related literature:
A.Storelli, Jean-Baptiste Nini, sa vie - son oeuvre, Tours, 1896, p. 121, no. LXVIII.

This example of one of Nini's most celebrated subjects was possibly cast into bronze, instead of the standard terracotta, by the best Parisian foundryman of the day, Thomire.

A. Cerboni Baiardi and B. Sibille, Giovan Battista Nini (1717-1786: da Urbino allé rive della Loira. Paesaggi e volte europei, exh. Cat., Palazzo, Ducale Urbino/Château de Blois, 2001-2, pp. 219-20, no. 98.

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