Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is a public artwork by American sculptor and medallist Thomas Dow Jones, located in the Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The painted plaster bust of Abraham Lincoln that resides in the Indiana Statehouse is a copy of an 1861 clay bust. Several versions of the bust exist in plaster, marble, and bronze mediums. Thomas Dow Jones' original 1861 bust was re-sculpted (by the artist) into marble as part of the Lincoln Vicksburg Monument that was installed in the Ohio Statehouse in 1871. Another copy of the bust was cast into bronze and is part of the Southern Allghenies Museum of Art's permanent sculpture collection (74.011) in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Jones' bust of Lincoln is also in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (NPG.74.53) in Washington, D.C. Description The white plaster bust depicts Abraham Lincoln in a left-facing quarter-profile; the figure is draped in a cape, wearing a suit and stock tie. The dimensions are as follows: height: , width: , length: . The bust is clearly inscribed Patented June 3, 1862 on the lower proper left. "TD Jones, sculptor" is inscribed on the bust's posterior center. As this is a copy of the original clay bust, the artist's signature on the posterior center is not clear. The bust is situated on a white, wooden base in the northeast exterior niche of the Indiana Statehouse rotunda. A gold plaque is located beneath the stone niche; although not attached to the sculpture, it describes the subject matter, reading: Historical information The Indiana Statehouse' plaster bust of Lincoln was patented June 3, 1862. Thomas Dow Jones' original bronze sculpture was cast in 1861 and is believed to be one of the earliest depictions of a bearded Abraham Lincoln.