As with many works associated with Franklin, early labels or histories led to the misattribution of this work. Because of its physical resemblance to the so-called "gray coat" portrait by Duplessis, it was attributed to Duplessis and inscribed on the reverse, "Benjamin Franklin by J.S. Duplessis presented by Benjamin Franklin to Richard Oswald..." Further complicating the attribution, in 1898 its then-owner wrote that "There is no reason it should not be a Greuze..." According to Sellers (p. 417), a portrait owned by the Boston Public Library at the time of the publication of his book was a replica or copy of this work.
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