Life Cast of the Hands and Face of Abraham Lincoln

Inscriptions

Inscribed, underside of face: A. LINCOLN. 1860 L. W. VOLK fecit Inscribed, left hand at wrist: A. LINCOLN / L. W. VOLK / fecit / 1860 Inscribed, right hand at wrist: A. LINCOLN. / L. W. VOLK / fecit / 1860

Exhibition history

Chicago Historical Society, long–term loan, Dec. 30, 1930–June 30, 1995.

Publications

George Eggers, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, Paintings, and Drawings: Part I: Architecture and Sculpture, part 1 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1920), 77, cat. 918, as Face and Hands of Abraham Lincoln. Lorado Taft, The History of American Sculpture (Macmillan, 1924), 202.

Quick Overview

Artist: Leonard Wells Volk (American, 1828–1895)
Date: Cast in plaster 1860; cast in bronze by 1888
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Life Mask: 24.1 × 21 × 14 cm (9 1/2 × 8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.); Right hand: 14.6 × 13 × 8.9 cm (5 3/4 × 5 1/8 × 3 1/2 in.); Left hand: 16.5 × 10.8 × 7.5 cm (6 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 2 7/8 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: sculpture
Place: Chicago
Department: Arts of the Americas
Credit line: Gift of the artist
Accession no.: 1891.77-79

Provenance

The artist, Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1891.

Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.