Jean-Baptiste Nini created this commemorative medallion at the bequest of Jacques Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont (1726-1803), businessman and personal friend and supporter of Franklin's. It, along with subsequent versions, were incredibly popular in France during Franklin's ambassadorial stay there in the late 1770s, as evidenced by Franklin's 1779 letter to his daughter:
"The clay medallion you say you gave to Mr. Hopkinson was the first of the kind made in France. A variety of others have been made since of different sizes...and the numbers sold are incredible. These, with the pictures, busts and prints (of which copies upon copies are spread everywhere), have made your father's face as well known as the moon..."
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