Seated Lincoln (Borglum)

Seated Lincoln is a 1911 sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, located next to the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1995.

This article is about the Abraham Lincoln statue in Newark, New Jersey. For the Abraham Lincoln statue in Chicago, see Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State.
Seated Lincoln
LocationJct. of Springfield Ave. and Market St., Essex County Courthouse Plaza, Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates40°44′13″N 74°10′40″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1911
ArchitectBorglum, Gutzon
Architectural styleMonument/Sculpture
MPSPublic Sculpture in Newark MPS
NRHP reference No.95000303[1]
NJRHP No.2805[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 30, 1995
Designated NJRHPFebruary 15, 1995

The bronze sculpture depicts Abraham Lincoln larger than life size, seated at one end of a bench also cast in bronze. Lincoln is bearded but bare headed, with his stovepipe hat resting on the bench beside the man's hand. The bronze is set on a low stone platform with five steps, beside the steps to the courthouse. The informal composition was an unusual departure from the usual monumental depiction of Lincoln standing or enthroned on a high plinth. It was inspired by Borglum's research, reading that Lincoln often sat alone on a bench in the White House gardens to gather his thoughts during the American Civil War, particularly when there was bad news.[3] In 1908, Borgulm had completed the marble bust of Lincoln which is now installed at the U.S. Capitol, and he later sculpted the heads of four U.S. presidents including Lincoln at Mount Rushmore.

The work was funded by a $25,000 bequest by Newark businessman Amos Hoagland Van Horn, who died in 1908. Van Horn's estate also funded Borglum's Wars of America monument, erected in Newark in 1926.[4][5]

The sculpture was cast at the Gorham Manufacturing Company foundry in New York, and dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on Memorial Day, May 30 1911.[6] Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Why this doesn't look like a monument at all!" which Borglum took as a compliment. The sculpture was restored in 1980, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1995.

Borglum also made a number of smaller bronze maquettes of the statue. One example, 22 in × 29 in × 15.75 in (55.9 cm × 73.7 cm × 40.0 cm), was sold at Sotheby's in 2009 for $62,500,[7] and another in 2016 for $100,000.[8]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. April 1, 2010. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  3. Seated Lincoln, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service
  4. Bullard, F. Lauriston, Lincoln in Marble and Bronze, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey 1952, pp. 214–215.
  5. 'Seated Lincoln', Newark's Memorial Day Treasure, WBGO.org, May 29, 2017
  6. Parisi, Albert J. (March 22, 1987). "STATUE GETS HELP OFFER". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2010. The museum's request was simple and to the point, said Mr. Martin: It offered to completely restore the pitted, green-tinged statue free 'if we would allow the museum to cast a copy of the statue, which in turn would go on display at the base of Mount Rushmore.'
  7. Gutzon Borglum. Maquette for Lincoln Memorial in Newark, Sotheby's, 21 May 2009
  8. Gutzon Borglum, Maquette for Seated Lincoln, Sotheby's, 9 June 2016
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