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Life Mask of Abraham Lincoln

1860, cast 1886
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 762
The Chicago sculptor Volk produced casts of Abraham Lincoln’s face and hands in spring 1860, during his first presidential campaign. In 1886 Saint-Gaudens, collectors Thomas B. Clarke and Erwin Davis, and journalist Richard W. Gilder purchased the original plaster casts to present to the Smithsonian Institution. To finance the donation, they sold casts after Volk’s originals, with production supervised by Saint-Gaudens.The cast hand is also in the Met's collection (2007.185.1).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Life Mask of Abraham Lincoln
  • Artist: Leonard Wells Volk (1828–1895)
  • Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
  • Date: 1860, cast 1886
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: L. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Jonathan L. Cohen and Allison B. Morrow Gift and Friends of the American Wing Fund, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.185.2
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln), Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1884–87; reduced 1910; cast 1911
Right Hand of Abraham Lincoln, Leonard Wells Volk American, Bronze, American
Right Hand of Abraham Lincoln
Leonard Wells Volk
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1860; cast 1886
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze and marble, American
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Aubry Brothers & Co.
1879–80; cast 1910
Abraham Lincoln, George Grey Barnard American, Marble, American
Abraham Lincoln
George Grey Barnard
ca. 1911–17; carved ca. 1919
Abraham Lincoln, Leonard Wells Volk American, Bronze, American
Abraham Lincoln
Leonard Wells Volk
S. Klaber
1860, cast ca. 1914

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