| TITLE
| Figure Group of Benjamin Franklin and Louis XVI Signing the Treaty Of Alliance In 1778 |
| CREATOR | Sauvage, Charles-Gabriel, 1741-1827 |
| DATE | 1780-1790 |
| DIMENSIONS | 12 x 10 in.
|
| ORIGINAL FORMAT | Sculpture |
| MEDIUM | Porcelain and marble
|
| PHYSICAL NOTE | Niderviller white bisque on pink marble plinth, presented under a fitted glass dome on wood base |
| DONOR | William Anthony Hoppin |
| DATE OF ACCESSION | 1915 |
| LOCATION | Providence Athenaeum: Philbrick Rare Book Room |
This porcelain figure group portrays the 1778 signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and France. It depicts Benjamin Franklin conveying gratitude to Louis XVI, who presents the treaty that marked an important alliance recognizing American independence and guaranteeing trade rights between the two countries without British interference.
Created by Charles-Gabriel Sauvage (known as Lemire) at the Niderviller ceramics factory in Lorraine, France, it is one of only six known copies produced. It was originally owned by William Jones Hoppin, a lawyer, diplomat, and writer, and it descended to his nephew, William Anthony Hoppin, who bequeathed it to the Providence Athenæum in 1915.
Lancaster, Jane. Inquire Within: A Social History of the Providence Athenæum Since 1753. Providence Athenæum, 2003, pp. 7, 125.
"Figure Group of Benjamin Franklin and Louis XVI Signing the Treaty Of Alliance In 1778." The Providence Athenæum, 201. Accessed 19 June 2019.
Annual Report of the Directors of the Providence Athenæum to the Proprietors. Providence, Providence Athenæum, 1915, p.6.
Williams, Michael. “Figure Group of Benjamin Franklin and Louis XVI Signing the Treaty Of Alliance In 1778.” 2016. ARTH 401: Cataloguing Curiosity, Wheaton College, student paper.
Leonard, Grace Fisher. The Providence Athenæum: A Brief History. Providence, Privately Printed, 1939.
Lee, Albert. Portraits in Pottery: With Some Account of Pleasant Occasions Incident to their Quest. Boston, The Stratford Company, 1931.
"The European Vision of America." National Gallery of Art, www.nga.gov/exhibitions/1975/european_vision.html. Accessed 19 June 2019.