Casts of Abraham Lincoln's Face and Hands
date: label: associated date
content: 1860
name: label: maker
content: Volk, Leonard Wells
label: associated person
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: associated person
content: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
label: maker
content: Volk, Leonard Wells
notes: label: Description
content: Chicago artist Leonard Volk produced this plaster life mask of Abraham Lincoln in April 1860. Volk made the casts of Lincoln’s hands on May 20, two days after the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency. Lincoln’s right hand was still swollen from shaking hands with supporters. To steady his hand in the mold, Lincoln went out to the woodshed and cut off a piece of broom handle. Volk later placed the piece of handle in the cast displayed here.
label: Description
content: In 1886 Volk’s son sold the casts of Lincoln’s face and hands to a group that proposed having the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens make a limited set of replicas.
label: Description
content: In 1888 the 33 supporters of this project presented Volk’s personal copies of the life mask and hands, along with bronze replicas produced by Saint-Gaudens, to the U.S. government for preservation. The donation was made on the condition that “the original plaster casts should never be tampered with.” Any future casts could only be made from the bronze replicas.
label: Description
content: Gift of the Thirty-three Subscribers, 1888
topic: label: depicted
content: Presidents
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Presidential History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: Exhibition
content: American Presidency
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Thirty-Three Subscribers (Augustus St. Gaudens, Thomas B. Clarke, Richard W. Gilder)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.4414
label: catalog number
content: 4414
label: accession number
content: 20084
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Casts, Hands, Pair of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: painted (?? production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: plaster (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: left hand: 2 3/4 in x 4 1/4 in x 6 5/8 in; 6.985 cm x 10.795 cm x 16.8275 cm
label: Measurements
content: right hand: 3 5/8 in x 5 1/4 in x 6 1/8 in; 9.2075 cm x 13.335 cm x 15.5575 cm