Bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Patinated bronze cast of Abraham Lincoln by George Bissell, one of only three commissioned by Ralph Newman for THE USS AL. Boldly signed by the artist in the back Geo. E. Bissell Sc. George Bissell was an important American sculptor working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He produced two full length statues of Lincoln: one in Edinburgh and one in Clermont, Iowa. According to the letter from Lincoln College Curator Paul Beaver, the present item is one of three copies made from the school's original Bissell bronze bust of Lincoln by the Van Dyke Galleries of Chicago in the summer of 1989. One copy was presented to the USS Abraham Lincoln (commissioned in 1989), one copy was sold to Mel Smith, and the third to Barry and Louise Taper. In fine condition. The piece measures 25.5 inches in height. An exceptional piece.