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Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Laurence Hutton Collection of Life & Death Masks

(Above) Life mask of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and death mask of Samuel Hayes Pennington (1806-1900).

(Above) Death mask of Henry Warner Slocum (1827-1894); and death mask of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745).

(Above) Death mask on decorated shield of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) and life mask of Robert E. Lee (1807-1870).

(Above) Life mask of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and life mask of John James Audubon (1785-1851).

(Above) Life mask of John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) and life mask of Abraham Lincoln (1808-1865).


I came across these life and death masks on the Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks at Princeton University’s on-line rare books collection. Looking at one of these is as close to the real thing as you can get. I only wish Lincoln had eyes.

It’s a cool thing to think of someone agreeing to have their face wrapped in plaster of Paris gauze, then sit for it to dry, etc. It’s a very tedious thing to do. The dead ones are always easy. They don’t blink and never complain.

An AM Repost from 1/18/09.
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8 comments:

  1. Estate InformationJanuary 18, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    ...another brilliant post...I wonder if you realize that I am on Twitter, and from time to time I post there about your site?

    I Like your site, I am amazed by your site...might come everyday...but your site wont let me comment using this as my identity

    http://fineestateliquidation.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. ColinJanuary 18, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    I love this blog- I'm keeping you up on my blog roll. Keep the good stuff coming...

    ReplyDelete
  3. John FosterJanuary 18, 2009 at 1:49 PM

    To Estate Information:

    I know, I will figure this out and thanks for bearing with me... staying with me.

    Colin, dude... thanks for the kind words... I try... My goal is to find some nugget of art or culture each day to make the time you (and others) spend NEVER a waste of time. Thanks and share with your friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. John FosterJanuary 18, 2009 at 1:52 PM

    And Colin... I am also from St Louis!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 7, 2009 at 1:22 PM

    The last set of photos of Calhoun and Lincoln shows their characters even in death. While Lincoln has this benevolent and wise look about him, Calhoun has that evil look, Scrooge if you like.

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownFebruary 7, 2009 at 4:43 PM

    See www.undyingfaces.com for more information

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rod MacGregorNovember 28, 2011 at 7:15 AM

    Looking at Lincoln's mask...seems like he may have moved his eyes during the casting or had a protection on them...Interesting blog.. accordingly,I have also added you to my blogroll.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Elizabeth Rose StantonDecember 3, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    Fascinating!

    ReplyDelete