Abraham Lincoln
Life Mask, 1865
Clark Mills (1810-1883)
Plaster
In early 1865, Abraham Lincoln sat to create a mold for a second life mask. The first life mask was created by sculptor Leonard Volk in March, 1860, before Lincoln was elected President, and show him beardless. The 1865 mold and subsequent casting by Clark Mills reveal not only the beard, but also show how the challenges of leadership and horrors of war impacted his physical appearance.
