Bronze sculpture depicting a young Abraham Lincoln seated against a tree stump with an axe, a book, and his dog. Height 18 in. (457 mm).

Abraham Lincoln, the Hoosier Youth, was commissioned by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in 1928 to be placed outside its headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The building's architect, Benjamin Wistar Morris, recommended Manship for the job.

The present lot is one of many studies made by Manship, who wanted to depict Lincoln as he likely appeared as a younger man. To get a better sense of this, Manship traveled throughout Indiana with Louis A. Warren, director of Lincoln National. Manship eventually brought a hound dog from Kentucky to his studio in Paris, which he incorporated into his image of the young Lincoln. The sculpture, which now stands in Fort Wayne, was cast at the Compagnie des Bronzes foundry in Brussels, while examples such as this were cast at the Bruno Bearzi Foundry in Florence.

Provenance:

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California