The Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington Printed Textile.

[WASHINGTON; GEORGE; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN],.

$2,200.00

Item Number: 139191

Rare copperplate-printed toile fragment from the popular eighteenth-century English pattern “The Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington.” The fragment features a copper-plate printed portrait of Benjamin Franklin in academic robes and his famous cap after the famed 1777 portrait of him by Jean-Baptiste holding the ends of a banner reading “Where liberty dwells there is my country.” The fragment has been framed within a patterned textile border. In near fine condition. The piece measures 13.75 inches by 11.25 inches. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

"Produced by an unknown English firm around 1785, the “Apotheosis” pattern is just one of many toile designs intended for the American export market... Like the “Gibraltar” and “Penn” designs, the Apotheosis pattern begins with images taken from other sources, but it takes the subject further; rather than commemorating a specific historical event, the toile’s designer combined images of Washington and Franklin with a wealth of well-known symbols of liberty, glory, and the American nation to create an allegorical piece that celebrated both the creation of America and its greatest heroes. In fact, even the likenesses of the two men serve not as portraits, but as icons. Washington, whose image is taken from a 1781 print by Valentine Green after a painting by John Trumbull, stands as an exemplar of character, courage, and unity. The profile of Franklin comes from a medal produced by Jean-Baptiste Nini in 1777. America’s favorite diplomat and renaissance man, depicted here in academic robes, embodies reason, discovery, and statesmanship. Washington drives a chariot drawn by leopards, accompanied by the figure of America in a plumed headdress (a classicized and anglicized version of earlier depictions of America as an Indian princess)" (Whitney A.J. Robertson. "Sleeping Amongst Heroes: Copperplate-printed Bed Furniture in the "Washington and American Independance [sic] 1776; the Apotheosis of Franklin" Pattern", Textile Society of America, 13th Biennial Symposium, September 19-22, 2012, Washington, D.C.).