Description:

Replica of Leonard Volk's Right Hand of Lincoln

This Alvastone cast with a bronze-like patina finish of Abraham Lincoln's right hand was reproduced from the bronze originals at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Alva Studios developed Alvastone, a high-density casting material derived from gypsum and made with granite, marble, or other stone combined with a catalyst to make it long-lasting. The Studios used this material to create reproductions of various art works including this cast of Lincoln's hand.

[ABRAHAM LINCOLN] Alva Studios, Reproduction of Leonard W. Volk's Casting of Abraham Lincoln's Right Hand, ca. first half 20th century 7" x 5" x 3.5 ". Inscription on the bottom reads, "This cast of the hand of / Abraham Lincoln was made / from the first replica of the original / made at Springfield, Ill. the / Sunday following his nomination / for the Presidency / in 1860." It also includes in small block letters "[AL]VA STUD[IOS]." Flaking to the finish over perhaps 10 percent of the surface.

Historical Background
Leonard W. Volk first met Abraham Lincoln during Lincoln's historic 1858 debates with Volk's wife's cousin, Stephen A. Douglas. When they met, Lincoln promised to sit for the young sculptor. When Lincoln was attending court in the spring of 1860 in Chicago, Volk went to the courthouse and reminded Lincoln of his promise. Lincoln agreed to visit Volk's studio, where Volk made a plaster mask of Lincoln's face to reduce the number of sittings that would be necessary.

In May, Volk traveled by train to Springfield to deliver the bust. Volk arrived shortly after news of Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency by the Republicans meeting in Chicago. Volk insisted that he needed to create a full-length statue of Lincoln, and Volk took measurements and made casts of Lincoln's hands. Volk suggested that Lincoln should be holding something in his right hand, so Lincoln went to the woodshed and returned with the end of a piece of a broom handle. Because Lincoln had been shaking so many hands the night before, his right hand was swollen compared to his left. After taking the measurements and making the casts, Volk returned to Chicago.

Volk never completed the statue, and he gave the casts of Lincoln's face and hands to his son Douglas Volk (1856-1935), who was an accomplished painter. Douglas Volk apparently gave the casts to a fellow art student named Wyatt Eaton (1849-1896). In 1886, poet and editor Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909) saw them in Eaton's studio and, with sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and art collector Thomas B. Clarke, began a subscription list to donate them to the Smithsonian Institution. Subscribers could purchase a set of plaster replicas.
In 1888, a group of thirty-three individual and institutional subscribers presented the original plaster mask and hands and "the first bronze cast of the face-mold, and bronze casts of the hands" to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, with the condition that "the original plaster casts should never be tampered with." Any future casts could only be made from the bronze replicas.


Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895) was born in New York and followed his father's trade as a marble cutter in Massachusetts. In 1848, Volk opened an artist's studio in St. Louis, Missouri. His wife's cousin, Stephen A. Douglas, supported Volk's travel to Rome for additional study from 1855 to 1857. When he returned to the United States, Volk settled in Chicago, where he helped found the Chicago Academy of Design, the precursor to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In the spring of 1860, Abraham Lincoln sat for Volk while attending court in Chicago. In mid-May 1860, Volk presented a completed cabinet bust to the Lincolns in Springfield and asked to cast Lincoln's hands.



This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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