Until the 1960’s, John Dean Benton (1824-1890) was almost forgotten as one of America’s most important nineteenth century model makers. Although at least one Benton steamship model was already in a museum (The Commonwealth model which had been acquired by the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, VA in the 1940’s), it is likely that no Benton model had been seen at auction in New York since 1887 when the Mary model was sold from the estate of Mary Jane Morgan.
But already a dedicated group of members of the Musical Box Society International were slowly collecting information about Benton’s surviving steamship models. Much of this information was patiently assembled during the 1970’s, and finally summarized and published in 1986 as an article by Joseph H. Schumacher, “Gold and Silver Steamboat Models With Musical Movements.” This nine-page article is still the source for most of the published information about Benton, especially auction catalog listings for the models which have come onto the market since 1982.
The 13 illustrations to Schumacher’s article showed Benton’s Commonwealth, Providence, Mary and City of New York models, as well as a still-unnamed model at the San Francisco Maritime Museum which is certainly a Benton model. The article stated that two Benton models had been stolen from museums, the Charles W. Morgan model lost by the Fall River Marine Museum in 1978 and the Roanoke model stolen from the Vanderbilt Museum on Long Island in 1980 but recovered in a very damaged condition. The City of New York model was on loan to Mystic Seaport, which has subsequently acquired the model as a donation. The Providence model was on loan to the Museum of the City of New York. The Harlan and Mary models were still in private ownership, though both have since been sold at auction.
Slowly, the list of Benton’s known models has grown since 1986, especially as new categories of Benton models began to emerge when models were sold at auction. Benton’s large architectural model of Independence Hall was sold in 1988, and the F. A. Churchman tugboat model was sold in both 1988 and again in 1998.
Today, only five Benton models are known to be in museums. The Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia has on extended loan a Benton locomotive model presented to Matthew Baird of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1869; this model has lost its original musical attachment. The Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia owns the Lizzie tugboat; this model has both its original musical attachment and a labeled Philadelphia showcase. Mystic Seaport has acquired the City of New York model, and the Mariners’ Museum owns the Commonwealth model. Both of these models have their original musical attachments and showcases. As noted, the San Francisco Maritime Museum owns a Benton model that cannot be identified.