424 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1952 



parable in accuracy to Volk's casts. In February 2 1865, just before 

 Lincoln's fifty-sixth birthday and only 2 months before his assassina- 

 tion, another face mask was made. Clark Mills, who was well known 

 at this time in Washington, was the sculptor. His equestrian statue 

 of Andrew Jackson in the square in front of the White House had 

 been unveiled in 1853 (Rutledge, 1942). 



Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding the making of the 

 second face mold are unknown. Quite likely Lincoln told Mills the 

 story of his sitting for the first mold and of the discomforts involved. 

 Lincoln could tell a story well. Also, it seems probable that Mills 

 countered with assurances that such discomforts were largely avoided 

 by his technique. Perhaps he listed some of the famous men whose 

 faces he had cast. 



Mills was largely self-taught, so far as a knowledge of the sculptor's 

 art is concerned. In casting the face he showed much of the same 

 independence of tradition that he exhibited in his other art work. As 

 witnessed in Charleston, S. C, in 1845, his casting method was as 

 follows : 



He first encases the head in a tight cap and then (the hair heing thus put 

 out of the way) spreads the paste [plaster] over the casing, thereby obtain- 

 ing the head and forehead with all their phrenological developments. Remov- 

 ing, for a while, the segment thus formed that it may harden and cool (for, 

 although the paste is at first cool, yet it goes under a phase of temporary heat) 

 he soon replaces it, and proceeds to the completion of the work by spreading 

 the paste over the entire face, closing eyes, mouth and ears, and leaving only 

 the nostrils open for breath. The paste is inodourous and insipid, and produces 

 no unpleasant sensation ; but, on the contrary, with the thermometer at 90, is 

 actually agreeable and refreshing by reason of its original coolness. It soon 

 hardens around its nucleus, forming a facsimile of every feature and muscle 

 and before the heating stage commences, by a gentle movement of the facial 

 muscles, it is broken into more or less fragments, which are caught in a towel 

 and recombined at the leisure of the artist. The whole operation is over in 

 15 minutes (Rutledge, 1949). 



This is a very different method from the one used by Volk. Whereas 

 the latter built up the plaster over the face and allowed it to harden 

 for an hour so that it could be removed in one piece, Mills kept the 

 plaster thin over the face, allowed it to set for only 15 minutes, and 

 then had the sitter break the mold into pieces by movement of the 

 facial muscles. These factors, combined with the defects necessarily 

 introduced by the recombination of the fragments, would diminish the 

 accuracy of the reproduction. 



Available copies of Mills's life mask of Lincoln suggest that 

 Mills was still using in 1865 the method here described as witnessed 

 20 years earlier. For instance, the whole top of the head is included 



* If we can reply on the Inscription carved on the Fisk Mills bust of Lincoln now in 

 the Lincoln Museum in Washington, the date was February 11. Fisk was one of Clark 

 Mills's sons. 



