Abraham Lincoln by Vinnie Ream Carte-de-Visite
Washington, D.C., 1871 — 4¼ x 2½ in.
 
A scarce carte-de-visite depicting Lavinia Ellen “Vinnie” Ream’s sculptural figure of Abraham Lincoln, issued in 1871 and copyrighted by the artist the year her full-length marble was unveiled in the United States Capitol. The image reproduces Ream’s celebrated standing figure of the martyred president, among the earliest sculptural memorials to Lincoln produced in the years immediately following the Civil War.
 
Modeled by Ream from life during Lincoln’s presidency, the sculpture remains among the most significant early likenesses of the president. Awarded the commission at just eighteen, Ream became the youngest artist and first woman to receive a federal commission for a monument from the United States government, a landmark achievement in nineteenth-century American sculpture. This carte-de-visite preserves the work in its first year of public recognition and stands as a scarce Lincoln memorial image.
 
Condition: Very good, with light toning and minor wear consistent with age.