The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

height 8 1/2 in. #87 (of 100), signed in the mold by Gerhardt.

Karl Gerhardt met Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain") while both were living in Hartford, Connecticut, in the early 1880s. Clemens was so impressed by Gerhardt's talent that he paid for him to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1884. On 20 March 1885, Gerhardt accompanied Clemens on a visit to the home of former president Ulysses S. Grant, then dying of cancer and working on his memoirs for eventual publication by Clemens.

During this visit, Gerhardt spent hours sculpting a clay model of Grant's face. Within weeks, Gerhardt had his model ready and, with the financial backing of Clemens, issued 100 numbered bronze copies of the bust for $50 each, accompanied by a testimonial letter from Frederick Grant calling them "an excellent likeness." Gerhardt was later given exclusive rights to create a death mask of Grant following his passing on 23 July; this would mark the end of Gerhardt's association with Clemens, as Gerhardt's refusal to give the death mask to Grant's family nearly resulted in a lawsuit that was only averted when Clemens agreed to forgive the $17,000 in debts Gerhardt owed to him in exchange for Gerhardt returning the mask to Frederick Grant.