Abraham Lincoln Plaster Cast Hand

Plaster cast of Abraham Lincoln's right hand with a painted bronze finish, replicating the life-cast made by Leonard Volk after Lincoln's nomination to the presidency in 1860. Mounted to a wooden base with two engraved plaques: "The Right Hand of Lincoln" and "To Arthur Flemming, with deep appreciation from Pat and Dick Nixon, November 1960." In very good to fine condition, with scattered chipping to the paint.

Arthur Flemming was a two-time recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At the time he received this gift from the Nixons he was serving as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. He later served as Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Sculptor Leonard W. Volk made a cast from life of Lincoln’s face and two hands at Lincoln's Springfield home in April 1860, from which he later made bronze statues. Lincoln, whose hand was swollen from handshakes, held a broom handle in his right hand during the sitting to steady his hand.