In 1865, when Vinnie Ream was barely eighteen years old, Abraham Lincoln was told by Congressman James Rollins that there was a "poor girl" who wished to take his likeness; the president agreed, and during the last five months of his life, Miss Ream was frequently allowed to sketch him as he worked and received associates at the White House. The artist gave this bas-relief, which was one of the products of her studies, to Mrs. Sophie Washington Smith, an aunt of the donor.