Clark Mills (September 1, 1815 – January 12, 1883) was an American sculptor, best known for four versions of an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, located in Washington, D.C., with replicas in Nashville, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Early years
Mills was born on September 1, 1815, near Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York.
Major works
Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson
thumb|[[Andrew Jackson (Mills)|Equestrian statue Andrew Jackson, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.]]
Mills' most well-known sculpture is the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, located in President's Park, also known as Lafayette Square, which is situated on the north portico side of the White House.
Mills presented a submission to a competition for the contract to produce the statue. Mills' sculpture depicted Major Jackson on a rearing horse, raising his hat to the troops he was reviewing at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815.
James M. Goode, (1939-2019), Washington, D. C. historian, who published numerous books relating to Washington, D.C., history, provided details behind the creation of the statue. Goode described how Mills used his own horse, Olympus as a model for the horse Jackson was riding at the Battle of New Orleans—Duke. According to Goode, Mills taught Olympus to "rear up on its hind legs during the modeling process." Goode added that the public were "entranced" with Mill's statue in Washington. As a result, Mills cast three copies—that are now in "New Orleans (dedicated in 1856), Nashville (dedicated in 1880) and Jacksonville, Florida (dedicated 1987). Goode wrote that the statue was noteworthy as it was the first bronze statue cast in America and the "first equestrian statue in the world to be balanced on the horse's hind legs."
50px|right|<small>Nashville, Tennessee</small>
Equestrian statue of George Washington (Washington Circle) (1860)
75px|left|<small>George Washington (statue) in [[Washington Circle</small>]]
Mills also captured a tense and crucial moment in the American Revolutionary War with the creation of an equestrian statue of Lt. Gen. George Washington in 1860. Congress commissioned this work in 1853 because of the tremendous popularity of Mills' equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson. The elaborate high pedestal that Mills originally designed, with three tiers of sculptured relief panels and smaller equestrian statues of Washington's generals, were never executed because of a lack of adequate funds.
Statue of Freedom (1863)
Beginning in 1860, the Statue of Freedom, which was designed by Thomas Crawford and sits atop the United States Capitol, was cast in five main sections by Mills with the assistance of Philip Reid. The casting was undertaken at Mills' foundry on his estate on the border of Maryland and D.C.
Abraham Lincoln (1865)
In 1865 Mills made a life-cast of Abraham Lincoln's head. It is generally felt to be inferior in technical quality to the 1860 cast made by Leonard Volk, but has the advantage of showing Lincoln's entire skull, not just the face as does Volk's.
Other works
Mills made 124 portrait busts. The Smithsonian has catalogued a series of life masks of native Americans, Mills made from 1875 to 1880. The collection was held in the name of Richard Henry Pratt, a Civil War veteran, who supervised the prisoners at that time. Mills also made life masks of forty-seven boys and girls at Hampton Roads, Hampton Normal and Educational Institute in Virginia in March 1879. The parcel included a natural springs, locally known as Upper Hickey, which had a flow abundant enough for the operation of the foundry Mills planned to construct.
The three sons challenged the will which gave almost all the estate to Mills' second wife and stepdaughter. In 1884, Mills' estate was auctioned off in a public sale, and subdivided, largely because of the "acrimonious dispute" between his sons and his stepdaughter and second wife.