Abraham Lincoln Life Mask after Clark Mills' Original 1865 Cast

Clark Mills Abraham Lincoln

Non-Paper Memorabilia

Mills, Clark. Abraham Lincoln life mask, originally taken in February 1865, two months before the president's death. Mills' was the second and last life mask taken of Lincoln, preserving his features directly from life rather than through later artistic interpretation. The cast is often compared to Leonard Volk's cast, taken in 1860 shortly after Lincoln secured the Republican nomination, and is a remarkable record of the toll the presidency and Civil War took on Lincoln physically. John Hay, secretary to the president, once noted that Volk cast shows “a man of fifty-one, and young for his years. . . . full of life, of energy, of vivid aspiration. . . . .[Mills' cast] is so sad and peaceful in its infinite repose . . . . a look as of one on whom sorrow and care had done their worst without victory is on all the features.” The Mills cast captured Lincoln's entire skull, unlike the Volk which shows only the face.

After Clark Mills. Abraham Lincoln life mask cast from the original 1865 mold. Plaster mask showing Lincoln’s face from the forehead to below the chin, with closed eyes, lean cheeks, pronounced cheekbones, deep-set eyes, narrow mouth, and beard visible along the jawline. The casting emphasizes the elongated structure of Lincoln’s face and preserves the asymmetry and modeling that gave later sculptors a direct reference for portrait accuracy. Mills was a New York born sculpter who developed his own method of creating plaster masks for portrait busts in the 1840s. His works include the equestrian statues of Andrew Jackson and George Washington which now reside in Washington D.C.'s Lafayette Square and Washington Circle, respectively, as well as the Statue of Freedom which sits atop the United States Capitol dome, and over 100 portrait busts of Native American prisoners and Black students at the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School (now Hampton University).

This original 1865 life mask became an essential source for later Lincoln portraits and sculptures, especially after 1865, when artists and monument makers sought models for Lincoln memorials. The pieces has a unique documentary value distinct from painted or engraved likenesses, often filtered through personal interpretation. Minor surface wear consistent with age; overall very good condition. Life masks are created in negative molds, casts therein are created in relief "after" the original. It is unclear at when this particular cast was taken.

Item #12672

Price: $450.00