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Primary sourceArtifact1809

Thomas Paine death mask

Hammersfan · 1809

A plaster death mask taken from Thomas Paine's face after his death in 1809, now displayed in Britain's People's History Museum.

This death mask was cast directly from Paine's face after his death, a physical trace of the man himself.

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A pale plaster death mask of a man's face mounted on a plinth inscribed 'Thos Paine', displayed in a glass case in a museum with green walls. Behind the case is a panel reading 'Industrial Revolution'.
Death mask of Thomas Paine, 1809. People's History Museum.

About this source

What it is

This plaster death mask was cast from Thomas Paine's face in 1809, preserving his actual features at death. It is displayed in the People's History Museum, a British museum dedicated to radical and working-class history.

Why it matters

Death masks were a common way of recording a person's likeness before photography. That Paine's mask survives, and is displayed in a museum devoted to radical history, reflects his lasting importance as a figure of political radicalism, even though he died largely shunned in his own time.

Look closer

  • Why might someone have wanted to preserve an exact cast of Paine's face after death?
  • What does the choice to display this mask in a museum of radical history suggest about how Paine is remembered today?
  • What can—and can't—a death mask tell us about a person's life?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Paine on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1776 Philadelphia pamphlet Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of America, printed by R. Bell in Third Street. Handwritten annotations include a name in the top corner and Thomas Paine's name near the bottom.Book

Primary source

Common Sense

Thomas Paine · 10 January 1776

Photograph of the first page of a printed 1776 pamphlet titled The American Crisis, Number I, by Thomas Paine, with handwritten annotations at the top reading 'by Thomas Paine' and 'published in the Penn. Journal' and 'June 1776'. The printed text begins 'These are the times that try men's souls.'Book

Primary source

The American Crisis

Thomas Paine · 1776-1783

Title page of Rights of Man, reading 'Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution, by Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and Author of the Work Intitled Common Sense. London: Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street. MDCCXCI.' Handwritten ink marks appear in the upper right corner.Book

Primary source

Rights of Man

Thomas Paine · 1791-1792

Title page of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Text reads: 'The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology. By Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and author of the works entitled Common Sense, and Rights of Man, &c. Paris: Printed by Barrois. London: Sold by D. I. Eaton, at the Cock and Swine, No. 74, Newgate-street. 1794. Price two shillings.'Book

Primary source

The Age of Reason

Thomas Paine · 1794-1807

Scan of the engrossed Declaration of Independence on aged parchment. Heading reads 'In Congress, July 4, 1776' with the title 'The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America' below. Dense handwritten text fills the page; signatures appear at the bottom.Document

Primary source

Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

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