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Lot Essay
An accomplished copy of David Martin’s 1767 portrait of Benjamin Franklin, this work was executed by the preeminent Philadelphia portraitist Thomas Sully (1783-1872) and his daughter Jane (1807-1877) in 1834. The portrait shows Franklin at the age of about sixty-one, with books and a bust of Sir Isaac Newton referencing his interest in education and science and his thumb resting on his chin while engrossed in the reading of a document. Now in the collections of the White House, the original was commissioned by Franklin’s friend and Scottish banker, Robert Alexander. Franklin was so pleased with the result that he commissioned a replica, which he sent to his family in Philadelphia. Martin made other replicas, and early on, the work was also copied by artists including Charles Willson Peale (See https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/benjamin-franklin-by-david-martin; Martin’s first replica is now at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, acc. no. 1943.16.1; Peale’s copy is in the collection of the American Philosophical Society, where for over two hundred years, it has inspired subsequent portraiture in the collection, see Janine Boldt, “Emblematic Franklin,” September 10, 2020 at https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/emblematic-franklin, accessed December 2, 2023).
Sully’s authorship of the work offered here is indicated by a later inscription on the reverse of the relining of the canvas, which presumably is a transcription an original underneath. This inscription includes the date 1834, and further links this work to a reference in Sully’s “Account of Pictures.” Though not a complete record of the artist’s oeuvre, this account or register was compiled by the artist throughout his career and includes over 2500 paintings. As described and cited by later authors, this account includes a portrait of Franklin that was a “copy begun by Jane Sully,” finished by Thomas, and painted over four days from July 19 to 23, 1834 (though it is unclear whether the entire portrait was painted in this time, or just Thomas’s “finishing”). Priced or valued at $200, it is among the more expensive in Sully’s listing. There is no owner recorded, and it may have been rendered for Sully’s own use. Just two months earlier, he had copied John Hoppner’s portrait of Franklin’s daughter, Sarah Bache, which he noted to be a “Copy for myself.” The inscription on the reverse further details that it was copied from an example in “Peale’s Museum,” which can be identified as the replica commissioned by Franklin as it was later acquired by Charles Willson Peale. Seen in this replica and here in Sully’s copy is the same upholstered chair, which contrasts with the highly carved crest of the chair in the original canvas (Edward Biddle and Mantle Fielding, The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (Philadelphia, 1921), pp. 90, 154, nos. 64, 602; see also Charles Henry Hart, “Thomas Sully’s Register of Portraits, 1801-1871,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 32, no. 4 (1908), p. 400, no. 59 and vol. 33, no. 1 (1909), p. 32, no. 575; Hoppner’s portrait of Sarah Bache is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 01.10).
This portrait was acquired by the Pepper family in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Family tradition maintains that the collection of works and memorabilia associated with Franklin and inherited by the current owners was largely assembled by their great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Pepper (1879-1918), a direct descendant of the statesman. This portrait, however, may have been owned by his father, Dr. William Pepper (1843-1898), a professor of medicine and later Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who was a prominent figure in Philadelphia’s cultural life in the late nineteenth century. Among the elder Pepper’s papers is a short note dated June 10, 1867 signed by Thomas Sully: “The Portrait of Dr. B. Franklin was painted by Chambers of London. My copy was made in Philadelphia 1834” (William Pepper Papers, vol. 1, p. 37, University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Coll. 904). The 1834 date strongly indicates he is referring to the work offered here, but the Chambers reference is puzzling as it may be a mistaken reference to Mason Chamberlin whose earlier portrait of Franklin is unlike David Martin’s. Penned when Sully was in his eighty fourth year, it may simply reflect Sully’s deteriorating mental faculties. Nevertheless, the note indicates that William Pepper was inquiring about a Sully portrait of Franklin and may have acquired this work around that time.
William Pepper was also an admirer of Benjamin Franklin, perhaps because the statesman inspired many of his pursuits. From serving on the committee to found what would become the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1875 to raising funds to improve the city’s water system, Pepper was a consummate public servant and as described by his biographer, “in public spirit, magnanimity, and utilitarian pursuits [he] closely represented Franklin.” In 1886, he delivered the commencement address at Franklin College and after a lengthy tribute to the Founding Father, he advocated that at the imminent anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution, “…larger space should be made for the recital of the part played by Franklin, who shares with Washington the immortal glory of wining and keeping our Union” (Francis Newton Thorpe, William Pepper M.D., LL.D. (1843-1898) (Philadelphia, 1904), pp. 70, 216, 226).
Pepper himself was not a Franklin descendant, but in 1873 he married Franklin’s great-great-granddaughter, Frances Sargeant Perry (1848-1918) (daughter of Frances Muriel Sargeant, granddaughter of Sarah Franklin Bache, great-granddaughter of Franklin's daughter, Sarah Franklin). In the twentieth century, this portrait was among a collection of Franklin artifacts inherited from Pepper’s son, Benjamin Franklin Pepper. A lawyer and soldier, the younger Pepper married Rebecca Thomson Willing (1882-1955) in 1902 and the couple lived in Chestnut Hill. He fought in the Spanish-American War and in France, where he died in 1918 while in service during World War I. His widow subsequently built a large residence, Ballygarth, near the home she had shared with her husband and this portrait adorned its dining room. The portrait, along with lots 480-4, 509 in this sale, thence descended directly in the family to the current owners.
Sully’s authorship of the work offered here is indicated by a later inscription on the reverse of the relining of the canvas, which presumably is a transcription an original underneath. This inscription includes the date 1834, and further links this work to a reference in Sully’s “Account of Pictures.” Though not a complete record of the artist’s oeuvre, this account or register was compiled by the artist throughout his career and includes over 2500 paintings. As described and cited by later authors, this account includes a portrait of Franklin that was a “copy begun by Jane Sully,” finished by Thomas, and painted over four days from July 19 to 23, 1834 (though it is unclear whether the entire portrait was painted in this time, or just Thomas’s “finishing”). Priced or valued at $200, it is among the more expensive in Sully’s listing. There is no owner recorded, and it may have been rendered for Sully’s own use. Just two months earlier, he had copied John Hoppner’s portrait of Franklin’s daughter, Sarah Bache, which he noted to be a “Copy for myself.” The inscription on the reverse further details that it was copied from an example in “Peale’s Museum,” which can be identified as the replica commissioned by Franklin as it was later acquired by Charles Willson Peale. Seen in this replica and here in Sully’s copy is the same upholstered chair, which contrasts with the highly carved crest of the chair in the original canvas (Edward Biddle and Mantle Fielding, The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (Philadelphia, 1921), pp. 90, 154, nos. 64, 602; see also Charles Henry Hart, “Thomas Sully’s Register of Portraits, 1801-1871,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 32, no. 4 (1908), p. 400, no. 59 and vol. 33, no. 1 (1909), p. 32, no. 575; Hoppner’s portrait of Sarah Bache is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 01.10).
This portrait was acquired by the Pepper family in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Family tradition maintains that the collection of works and memorabilia associated with Franklin and inherited by the current owners was largely assembled by their great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Pepper (1879-1918), a direct descendant of the statesman. This portrait, however, may have been owned by his father, Dr. William Pepper (1843-1898), a professor of medicine and later Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who was a prominent figure in Philadelphia’s cultural life in the late nineteenth century. Among the elder Pepper’s papers is a short note dated June 10, 1867 signed by Thomas Sully: “The Portrait of Dr. B. Franklin was painted by Chambers of London. My copy was made in Philadelphia 1834” (William Pepper Papers, vol. 1, p. 37, University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Coll. 904). The 1834 date strongly indicates he is referring to the work offered here, but the Chambers reference is puzzling as it may be a mistaken reference to Mason Chamberlin whose earlier portrait of Franklin is unlike David Martin’s. Penned when Sully was in his eighty fourth year, it may simply reflect Sully’s deteriorating mental faculties. Nevertheless, the note indicates that William Pepper was inquiring about a Sully portrait of Franklin and may have acquired this work around that time.
William Pepper was also an admirer of Benjamin Franklin, perhaps because the statesman inspired many of his pursuits. From serving on the committee to found what would become the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1875 to raising funds to improve the city’s water system, Pepper was a consummate public servant and as described by his biographer, “in public spirit, magnanimity, and utilitarian pursuits [he] closely represented Franklin.” In 1886, he delivered the commencement address at Franklin College and after a lengthy tribute to the Founding Father, he advocated that at the imminent anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution, “…larger space should be made for the recital of the part played by Franklin, who shares with Washington the immortal glory of wining and keeping our Union” (Francis Newton Thorpe, William Pepper M.D., LL.D. (1843-1898) (Philadelphia, 1904), pp. 70, 216, 226).
Pepper himself was not a Franklin descendant, but in 1873 he married Franklin’s great-great-granddaughter, Frances Sargeant Perry (1848-1918) (daughter of Frances Muriel Sargeant, granddaughter of Sarah Franklin Bache, great-granddaughter of Franklin's daughter, Sarah Franklin). In the twentieth century, this portrait was among a collection of Franklin artifacts inherited from Pepper’s son, Benjamin Franklin Pepper. A lawyer and soldier, the younger Pepper married Rebecca Thomson Willing (1882-1955) in 1902 and the couple lived in Chestnut Hill. He fought in the Spanish-American War and in France, where he died in 1918 while in service during World War I. His widow subsequently built a large residence, Ballygarth, near the home she had shared with her husband and this portrait adorned its dining room. The portrait, along with lots 480-4, 509 in this sale, thence descended directly in the family to the current owners.