Washington Winter Show 2020

48 potters’ design. By mistake, the craftsman who inscribed the earthenware figure painted the name “Washington” rather than “Franklin” on the base. The mislabeling is perhaps understandable since heads of Washington, Jefferson, and others were sometimes matched with Franklin’s body. (It was economical to reuse a single body mold in combination with heads from different molds.) In addition to honoring military and political heroes, iconic American imagery also celebrated the nation’s natural wonders, especially Niagara Falls. From the late 1700s onward, the falls were immortalized by American artists such as Rembrandt Peale, George Inness, and Frederick Church, and the English-born Thomas Cole. Reproductions of such paintings were available to both domestic and overseas markets. Natural wonders also attracted foreign artists whose views reappeared as prints and textile or wallpaper designs. In 1834, the French firm of Jean Zuber & Cie introduced Vues de l’Amérique du Nord [Views of North America], a scenic wallpaper showing important places and natural wonders, including Natural Bridge in Virginia and Niagara Falls (fig. 5). Jean-Julien Deltil was commissioned to create the designs and took inspiration from printed sources by other artists. Small versions of the designs may have been made as promotional material for the full sets of wallpaper, which continued in production into the twentieth century. Jacqueline Kennedy chose this scenic paper to decorate the walls of the White House Diplomatic Reception Room. Another visitor was Russian diplomat Pavel Svinin, whose Picturesque Voyage through North America was left – Fig. 4: Benjamin Franklin figure (labeled “Washington”). Probably Staffordshire, England, 1850s or later. Earthenware. Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont 1958.2485. right – Fig. 5: Natural Bridge, Virginia, and Niagara Falls, from Vues de l’Amérique du Nord, Jean-Julien Deltil (artist), Godefroy Engelmann (lithographer), Paris, France, 1833–34. Hand-painted lithograph. Gift of Mr. Harry T. Peters, Jr. 1970.0236.003. Fig. 6: Niagara Falls, from Opyt zhivopisnago puteshestviia po Sievernoi Amerikie [Picturesque Voyage through North America] by Pavel Petrovich Svinin, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1815. Printed Book and Periodical Collection, Winterthur Library RBR E165 S96.