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Life mask and hands of Abraham Lincoln

Life mask and hands of Abraham Lincoln Bronze sculpture
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Bronze sculpture by Leonard Volk, circa 1875 from plaster casts made in 1860

Mask: 19.6 cm x 22.1 cm x 14.3 cm; left hand: 16.8 cm x 11.1 cm x 6.3 cm; right hand: 16.8 cm x 13 cm x 9.2 cm


[ This description is from the project: MHS 225th Anniversary ]

Leonard Wells Volk made plaster casts of Abraham Lincoln's face and hands in 1860. These bronze pieces, cast from Volk's casts by Truman H. Bartlett about 15 years later, show a scar on Lincoln's left thumb from his rail splitting days. Thought to be a defect, this detail was corrected in later casts.