Rogers, John, 1829-1904

John Rogers (1829-1904) was born in Salem, Mass., and received his education in the Boston public schools. While employed in various jobs he began to model in clay during his leisure hours and in 1858-1859 spent time in Rome studying methods of reproducing clay groups in plaster form. On his return, he went to Chicago where he exhibited, for a charity fair, "The Checker Players," a group in clay that attracted much favorable attention. During the Civil War, he modeled small statuette groups, mostly of war subjects, and afterwards produced what are known as "Rogers Groups," statuary that told a story of immediate popular interest. His career was very successful and it is estimated that at least three thousand copies were sold of the more popular groups.

From the description of Papers, 1854; 1866-1869; 1930s. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259760

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