Highlights Archives
Abraham Lincoln: A Tale of Three Casts
Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895) was an American sculptor who is most famous for the life mask and hand casts he did of future president, Abraham Lincoln, in the spring of 1860. Having met Lincoln in 1858, Volk invited the Illinois lawyer to sit for a bust. But, it took two years before Lincoln actually came to Volk's Chicago studio in March 1860. Volk decided to start by making a life mask, using wet plaster.
Volk Recalled the Plaster Casting Process in an 1881 Interview
"It was about an hour before the mold was ready to be removed, and being all in one piece, with both ears perfectly taken, it clung pretty hard, as the cheek-bones were higher than the jaws at the lobe of the ear. He [Lincoln] bent his head low and took hold of the mold, and gradually worked it off without breaking or injury; it hurt a little, as a few hairs of the tender temples pulled out with the plaster and made his eyes water." Lincoln told Volk that the process was "anything but agreeable," however, when Lincoln first saw the mask that was cast from the mold, he declared it "the animal himself."
 Matthew Brady's 1864 portrait of President Abraham Lincoln This life mask became the model for various busts created by Volk and by other future sculptors. "Virtually every sculptor and artist uses the Volk mask for Lincoln. ... It is the most reliable document of the Lincoln face, and far more valuable than photographs, for it is actual form." (Avard Fairbanks, Lincoln for the Ages, Doubleday, 1960)
Volk traveled to Springfield, Illinois, in May 1860 to personally deliver a bust to the Lincoln family. While there, he seized the opportunity to ask Lincoln if he could make a cast of each hand. Lincoln obliged, and when Volk asked to have him clutching something, Lincoln went to a shed and brought back a sawn section of broom handle. As Lincoln began smoothing the raw edges, Volk said that it wasn't necessary — to which Lincoln replied, "I thought I would like to have it nice."
Lincoln's right hand cast is markedly larger than the left. Volk attributed that to swelling caused by excessive handshaking the night before — the evening of Lincoln's nomination as the Republican presidential candidate. Although many copies have been made, Volk's original plaster casts are owned by the Smithsonian Institution.
Three Lincoln Casts on Exhibit
A small case exhibit (pictured above) featuring the Wisconsin Historical Museum's copies of the life mask and the two hand casts will be on exhibit in the Governor's Ante Chamber at the state Capitol in Madison from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends throughout February. Following are museum curators' detailed descriptions of the artifacts on exhibit:
- 1967.470 — Plaster cast of Lincoln's right hand, originally owned by Andrew Jackson Turner (1832-1905), father of noted historian Frederick Jackson Turner (1861-1932)
- 1967.471 — Plaster cast of Lincoln's left hand, donated by Dr. Louis A. Warren of the Lincoln National Life Foundation
- 1977.41.3 — Plaster bust donated by the estate of Edward Nishan
:: Posted February 9, 2009
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