Portrait medallion of Benjamin Franklin (Nini/Walpole)

Nini, Jean Baptiste
Whitefoord, Caleb

Found in Edinburgh, Scotland, around 1990. The owner (2006) speculates that it is possibly from the collection of Caleb Whitefoord or Sir Alexander Dick. Both men knew and respected Franklin. Whitefoord was a neighbor and friend in London, in addition to being one of the peace negotiators sent to Passy by the British government in 1783.

The portrait was brought to the Scottish auction house of Lyon & Turnbull, and sold by their partner house in Philadelphia, Freeman's Auctions, in the spring of 2006. Reference to the sale and illustration of the portrait can be found in Maine Antiques Digest, July 2006, p. 13-B.