Abraham Lincoln Art Gallery. Com

Lincoln Store

Abraham Lincoln Life Mask, Lincoln Life Mask, Abraham Lincoln mask, Lincoln Mask 

During Lincoln's life, there were two life masks cast from his face.  The first mask in 1860 by sculptor Leonard Volk and the second mask in 1865 by sculptor Clark Mills, just two months before Lincoln's death.  We offer both Lincoln life masks to the collector.  Both of our Lincoln masks are faithful to Lincoln's face, since our superior molds were made from early museum copies of each life mask.  Each Lincoln life mask offers a unique  perspective into Lincoln's face; viewed together as a set they provide insight into the profound changes which  took place in Lincoln during the course of his presidency and the Civil War. These incredible Lincoln life masks are available individually or as set.  These are the best quality Lincoln masks available anywhere. 

Museum Quality Abraham Lincoln Life Masks

Available individually or as a matching set

Lincoln Mask by Volk

$3,750

Volk Mask & Mills Mask Matching Set

$6,750

Lincoln Mask by  Mills

$3.750

Abraham Lincoln Life Mask by Leonard Volk, March 31st 1860

Price $3,750

The Story Behind the Lincoln - Volk Mask. 

Sculptor Leonard Volk first met Abraham Lincoln in 1858 when Lincoln was debating  Steven Douglass for the US Senate seat from Illinois.  Douglass was Volk's brother in law as well as a patron and introduced him to Lincoln.  During that first meeting, Volk, with the eye of an artist, could see the character in Lincoln's face and asked him to sit for a bust. Although Lincoln good naturedly agreed, it took two more years of insistence and perseverance by Volk to finally get Lincoln to sit. Eventually on March 31st 1860 shortly before Lincoln received the Republican nomination for president, Lincoln fulfilled his promise to Volk.  

The intention of the sitting was to sculpt a portrait bust and to this end, Lincoln made several trips to Volk's 5th floor Chicago studio. On the first  visit, Volk took some measurements and made a mask so that he could continue to work on the bust between sittings. Volk used a poorly prepared thick plaster applied directly to Lincoln's face.  Volk described the unfortunate results." 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 hard, as the cheek bones were higher than the jaw at the lobe of the ear. He 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 the eyes water."  Lincoln who endured the ordeal in typical stoic humor later said that the process "was anything but agreeable."

Despite the painful first sitting, Lincoln enjoyed the sessions as a opportunity to escape the hectic campaign. Volk reported that "He would talk unceasingly telling the funniest and most laughable of stories, but he talked little of politics or religion during those sittings."  Lincoln was quoted as confiding  "I am bored nearly every time I sit down to a public dining table by someone pitching into me on politics." 

The bust progressed quickly and Lincoln was impressed with Volk's effort. After a few sittings Lincoln looked at the bust and proclaimed "There is the animal himself." This was a compliment that Volk would cherish for his entire life. For the next weeks Volk continued to work on the bust and even sculpted a small cabinet sized replica. On May 18th, the day Lincoln received word of his nomination, Volk appeared at Lincoln's Springfield house with the completed cabinet bust as a present for Mrs. Lincoln. Lincoln was alone but happy and excited and greeted Volk warmly.  They shook hands and Volk said, "I am the first man from Chicago, I believe, who has the honor of congratulating you on your nomination for President."  

Volk would create many fine Lincoln sculptures during his career, but he will be most remembered and appreciated by history for his remarkable mask of Lincoln captured at an historic moment. Through the years, almost every artist and painter attempting to capture Lincoln's elusive image has referenced Volk's mask. Lincoln's secretary John Hay later said of the Volk mask, "the face has a clean firm outline; it is free from fat, but the muscles are hard and full.; the large mobile mouth is ready to speak, to shout, or laugh; the bold curved nose is broad and substantial, with spreading nostrils; it is a face full of life, of energy, of vivid aspiration." It is indeed the face of the man who captured the country's favor and became our 16th president. The face of Abraham Lincoln. 

James J. Nance

Incredible Photographs by Mel Schockner, Loveland Colorado

---

 

Abraham Lincoln Life Mask by Clark Mills, February 11th  1865

Price $3,750

The Story Behind the Lincoln Mills Mask

On February 11th 1865 Lincoln consented to a request by sculptor Clark Mills to sit for a mask.  The mask was made at the White House and took considerably less time than the painful process he endured five years earlier at the hands of Leonard Volk. Mills was well prepared and determined not to inflict suffering on the president or take up too much of his valuable time.  The process was quick and effective.  Mills first oiled Lincolns head and whiskers.  He then applied a thin, quick setting, plaster paste to Lincoln's face and head.  After fifteen minutes the mixture had hardened.  Mills told Lincoln to twitch his face.  When he did, the mask broke into several large pieces which Mills caught in a cloth.  When Mills returned to his studio, he carefully glued the pieces back together, soaped the interior, and poured more plaster into the mold. When the plaster had hardened he broke apart the original one time mold and saw a perfect casting of Lincoln's face and head. 

The Mills mask differs from the Volk mask in several ways.  First, it includes not only the face but the head down to the top of the neck in back.  Secondly and most importantly it shows us a man drastically different from the Lincoln who Volk captured five years earlier with his mask.  The Mills mask was taken just a month before his second inaugural and the end of the Civil War and two months before his death.  It shows us a man who had lost 25 pounds from his already sparse frame and looked exhausted and worn out  from the pressures of office and the agony of the Civil War. 

The transition in Lincoln between the two masks is shocking.  So much so that many people over the years have mistakenly believed that the Mills mask was taken in death.  In fact there was no death mask ever taken.  When the famous sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens first saw the Mills mask he was convinced that it was a death mask. Saint Gaudens was quoted as saying about the Mills mask, "So sad. A look as of one on whom sorrow and care had done their worst without victory is on all the features."  When Lincoln saw the mask he sadly observed, "I am very unwell." Apparently he too could see the change. 

James J. Nance

Traditional Use of Life Masks by Artists

In the preparation for a portrait commission, an artist will typically make a mask of the subject's face. Masks have been used for hundreds of years by sculptors and painters as stand ins for subjects who were unavailable.   The early mask casting process required the subject to endure a long period of discomfort with burning plaster applied directly to the skin, although today modern materials have made this process much more pleasant and comfortable. Life masks were and still are a very useful reference tool which can guide the artist in proper proportion and skull structure when not in the presence of the subject. Occasionally a mask will take on a life of its own, transcend its original purpose as a reference tool, and become a treasured artifact.  In our country's history, the three most famous masks are the Lincoln Volk, the Lincoln Mills, and the George Washington by Houdin. Both Volk and Mills are remember today not for the fine works of sculpture they each created, but for the Lincoln masks they made. Today we look at these masks and can sense the soul of Abraham Lincoln.  The urge to touch them is irresistible.   

Our Superior Quality Molds

Not all commercially produced masks of Lincoln are equal in quality.  This inconsistency in quality is especially prevalent in the Volk mask made in 1860 and is caused by the limitations in mold material, the length of time (148 years) since the Volk mask was made, and the process used to produce new generations of molds. Over the years, the scenario was this: A mold was made of the mask and copies produced until the mold wore out.  A careless caster  then made a new mold from a copy cast from the old mold (frequently one of the final poor castings from an exhausted mold.)  Too often a competitor would simply buy a commercial copy and make his own bootleg mold. Unfortunately, every time a mold is made, especially using older materials, small imperfections and distortions occur.  The change may be imperceptible from one mold to another, but over 148 years and many generations of molds later huge distortions evolve. Contributing to these distortions is the property of plaster which causes minute shrinkage and distortion during curing. It is entirely likely that some of the Volk masks being sold today are the sorry product of hundreds of generations of molds producing progressively poor quality masks which have lost all detail and subtly. 

Our source molds were personally made by sculptor James Nance using a modern material (Silicone) which is distortion free and non shrinking.  These molds were made in 1994 when he was researching the Lincoln image in preparation for the sculpting of his twin bronze Lincoln portrait busts located at the Lincoln home and Lincoln Library. The source of his molds were museum collection early originals from Volk and Mills.  The Volk source was a first generation plaster from Leonard Volk and the source of the Mills mask was a first generation plaster cast which had been given by Mills to Lincoln's secretary John Hay. This access to first generation plasters has allowed Jim Nance to create second generation molds from which our masters were carefully cast using a stable material.  These masters were then used to create our production molds. Since a production mold is only used to make 50 castings before it must be replaced, the masters will be used in the future to create new production molds when necessary and ensure continued quality until the limited edition is sold out.  

Detail Photo of Our Volk Mask

Click this picture or this link to view a larger 8x10 inch image of this detail.  Examples of the excellent detail of our  mask are evident in the skin wrinkles in front of the ears, the skin pores on the jaw and cheek, the hair line at the temple and the eyebrow hairs. 

Most commercial Lincoln Masks are made of unfinished plaster. Our masks are hand cast with a cold cast bronze which has the feel and look of and expensive foundry bronze.  The process involves mixing a finely ground bronze powder in a resin matrix. The mixture has the look of a thick syrup and is poured into a mold.  As the mold is slowly rotated, the mixture hardens. After removal from the mold the surface is polished with steel wool to reveal a finished surface of pure bronze.  This bronze surface is then finished using the same techniques used on a foundry bronze casting.   Our mask is indistinguishable from an expensive foundry bronze which would cost considerably more.

 Typically masks are presented as a stand alone object which must lay on its back and face upward. This limitation makes it difficult to display or view the mask since to appreciate it one must physically pick it up. To overcome this inherent limitation, sculptor James Nance sculpted a concave back to the mask and a cubical pedestal at the base of the mask behind the face line.  The geometric pedestal is tastefully designed, unobtrusive, proportioned, and does not alter, distract, or compete with the organic form of the mask.  The back and pedestal allow the mask to be cast in a more efficient manner producing a professional looking casting which is finished on all sides. The casting is then mounted on a beautiful black marble and cherry wood base which is 3 inches tall and 4 inches wide.  Affixed to the front of the marble is an engraved brass plaque. The resulting sculpture allows the mask to be elevated from the base with the face erect and facing forward as in life.  Both masks are presented in a similar and complementary manner and will create an interesting display individually or as a set.  The sculpture may be effectively displayed on a desk, shelf, mantle, or curio cabinet.

Although the facial portion of the mask itseself is unchanged from the original, James Nance sculpted a back and pedestal to the mask thereby adding to its overall form and function.  In addition, the source mold made by James Nance is unique; the high quality of the mold and resulting castings are the result of Mr. Nance's sculpture and mold making expertise.  The resulting work is therefore protected under a copyright and unauthorized reproduction  of this mask for distribution or commercial purposes is prohibited by copyright law.