Pierre-Michel Alix (engraver) — J. J. F. Le Barbier L'Aine, after | A very rare portrait of Franklin

Pierre-Michel Alix (engraver) — J. J. F. Le Barbier L'Aine, after

Untitled portrait of Benjamin Franklin, after Barbier's drawing of Houdon's bust. Paris: Chez Jean, rue Jean de Beauvais, no. 32, [ca. 1790]

Oval stipple engraving (530 x 435 mm). Early manuscript pencil map to verso; scattered foxing, abrasions primarily to margins, one or two creases, instances of dampstaining, blue tape border worn with loss to tape edges, clipped ties affixed at verso (overall 595 x 505 mm).

A very rare portrait based on the well-known bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, ca. 1789.

We locate one copy at Yale and a possible second copy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rare Book Hub cites just four examples at auction, only one of which has appeared in the last century.

REFERENCES

Carson 1608; Halsey i.160; Sellers, p. 312 and illustration p. 19; cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art 83.2.231; Yale University Art Gallery 1948.8