Born April 20: Daniel Chester French

Daniel Chester French, born April 20, 1850, was a prominent sculptor honored on a United States stamp in 1940, less than 10 years after his death in 1931. The 5¢ stamp (Scott 887) is from the American Artists set in the Famous Americans series.

Born in New Hampshire, French studied in Massachusetts, New York City and Europe.

During his lifetime, one of his sculptures, The Minute Man, was featured on a 5¢ stamp in the 1925 Lexington-Concord issue (Scott 619). French completed the statue in 1874, and it stands at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Mass.

What might be his most famous work has also appeared on stamps: the 1920 sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Most recently, the statue was featured on a 21¢ stamp issued in panes of 20 and coils (Scott 4860-61) on Feb. 12, 2014.