(Lincoln, Abraham, 16th President)

Gutzon Borglum. A plaster model of Lincoln's head for Mount Rushmore, (4 1/2 x 3 in.; 110 x 75 mm), painted ochre, the initial "B" incised on Lincoln's left cheek; a few minor chips principally on Lincoln's beard, patina darkened on hair and nose. Mounted on a turned wooden pillar, and surmounted by a glass dome.  

Gutzon Borglum was an American sculptor famous for creating the monumental heads of presidents at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving of Confederates on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, and other public works of art. With his fascination for gigantic scale and themes of heroic nationalism, he sought to create art that was "American, drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement" according to a 1908 interview article.

His Mount Rushmore project was the brainchild of state historian Doane Robinson  who conceived the idea in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. Between 4 October 1927, and 31 October 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60-foot (18 m) carvings of U. S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt to represent the first 150 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory.