Existing comment:
Abraham Lincoln as president-elect:
Commissioned by Cincinnatians to sculpt a bust of president-elect Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Dow Jones arrived in Springfield, Illinois, in the bitter cold of December 1860, promising his perspective sitter that he "was not to be assassinated through the custom of some sculptors in taking a cast of the face." Jones was referring to a recent plaster face mask made of Lincoln that had hardened, making its removal a painful experience. Although initially turned down, Jones prevailed upon Lincoln to sit for him in a hotel room he rented as a studio. Given a peek at the work before its completion, Lincoln said, "I think it looks very much like the critter."
Thomas Dow Jones, cast after the 1861 original |