DEAD GUY SCORES BIG

The world loves icons - Che, Lenin, Mao, Martin Luther King, Lincoln. Magical names, revolutionaries whose ideology captures the imagination and who are part of the established pop culture. Their images decorate a multitude of objects generating millions in revenues, while their likeness caste in bronze statues stand tall to grace public spaces. Lincoln, one of America’s most revered and popular presidents, has influenced generations of painters, designers, craftsmen, decorative artists, and sculptors. Artworks and objects ranging from the symbolic, functional, funky, or kitschy, have kept Lincoln the man and the myth firmly in the public’s eye.

President’s Day offers the perfect moment to look at Lincoln as a curated object whose iconic status inspired so many to walk the fine line between art and commerce.

1. Put On A Happy Face
Made by Clefton China c. 1950’s. A “jovial” character jug in the form of Lincoln’s head and shoulders has his ubiquitous stovepipe hat frame the rim. The manufacturer known for adding unique handles to its porcelain collectibles attached a curved scroll believed to be the Emancipation Proclamation. Fun and funky, this item is a collector’s dream.

2. Adorning A Scrimshaw
During the 18th and 19th Century whale men used sperm whale teeth as a canvas for their art. Pinpricking an image onto the surface of a tooth, they then used pigment to make the image standout. This particular piece features a bust of Lincoln (possibly copied from an existing print) on one side and an unknown woman on the other. Not signed or dated since whale men were illiterate, the Scrimshaw was probably created after 1861.

3. Proud Raven Totem Pole
The Illinois State Museum’s replica of the Proud Raven Totem Pole with a full-figured Lincoln perched on top was carved by the Civilian Conservation Corps c. 1930’s. Its origins are mysterious, but it is known that a Raven clan chief from Tongass a village in Southeast Alaska commissioned the original pole. Lincoln’s image was used given that he was the most recognizable white person in North America.

4. Pennies From Heaven
The Abraham Lincoln Penny was introduced in 1909, redesigned in 1959, and then again in 2009. The recent edition is made of copper plated zinc produced by the Mint. A few random errors have created rare and valuable coins eagerly collected by enthusiasts.

5. Life Masks (1860 and 1865)

Robust and vigorous prior to his ascendancy to the presidency, Lincoln’s face became ravaged and etched in grief and sorrow, clearly evident in the two life masks caste five years apart. The first, by sculptor Leonard Wells Volk, was molded directly on Lincoln in Volk’s Chicago studio captured the energy and musculature of Lincoln’s face, who, on seeing the finished product, exclaimed “There is the animal himself.” The second, by Clark Mills, was taken at the White House two months before Lincoln’s death and, to many was seen as a death mask.

Credits: 1. A gift to the Brown University Library in 1969 from W. Easton Louttit; 2. From the Mcellan Lincoln Collection at the Brown University Library; 3. courtesy of Washington University; 4) Photo: Art Evans Williams College Art Museum; 5. 1860 Life Mask Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895); 1865 Life Mask, Clark Mills (1815-1883). Both made from Plaster Molds. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

This article is written by Tamara Moscowitz a freelance writer whose work on architects and design projects have appeared in Florida Design and Florida Designers Review (FDR). She was a contributor to creativeabode.com and presently writes for Woman Around Town.com on home furnishings and design. Born in Berlin, Germany, Ms. Moscowitz was raised and educated in New York City where she currently resides