Casts of Abraham Lincoln's Face and Hands
date: label: date made
content: 1860
name: label: depicted (sitter)
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: artist
content: Volk, Leonard Wells
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
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Political Campaigns
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: See more items in
content: Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Thirty-three Subscribers, 1888
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: COLL.VLKCST.005005
label: accession number
content: 20084
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plaster casts
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plaster (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: mask: 7 in x 8 1/2 in x 9 in; 17.78 cm x 21.59 cm x 22.86 cm
label: Measurements
content: right hand: 3 5/8 in x 5 1/4 in x 6 1/8 in; 9.1948 cm x 13.335 cm x 15.5956 cm
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 16.8148 cm