This class includes busts, life masks, and many other artifacts.
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Uncle Ned's School
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts Uncle Ned, a cobbler, shining a boot while assisting a young African-American student with her reading. At his feet, a young African-American boy sits reading from a tattered book.
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The Home Guard: Midnight on the Border
John Rogers
Classified as a genre figure, the sculpture features two women living on the border during the Civil War guarding their home. One is shown cocking a revolver as the other clings to the former for protection. The piece was meant to show the horrors affecting the lives of civilians during the War. Overall, the piece received positive attention and was noted as "one of the most spirited" of his sculptures.
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Wounded to the Rear: One More Shot
John Rogers
One of Rogers's most well-liked works, One More Shot depicts two wounded soldiers. One is shown standing with his arm in a sling as he tried to retrieve a cartridge out of its case. The second sits as he wraps a bandage around his leg. The sculpture gained popularity due to its depiction of the tenacity of soldiers and became a favored gift for veterans.
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Country Post Office: News from the Army
John Rogers
In the sculpture, an unidentified woman is shown visiting her local post office where she reaches toward a clerk for a letter, presumably from a member of the Army. This particular piece has two variants where the only difference is the length of the woman's dress sleeve. Variant A - the variant shown here - shows the woman's forearm sleeved to the wrist, while Variant B shows a bare forearm.
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The Wounded Scout: A Friend in the Swamp
John Rogers
A highly admired piece, The Wounded Scout illustrates an escaped slave leading and protecting a wounded soldier. Its contemporaneous admirers included Jessie Benton Frémont, Henry Ward Beecher, Lydia Maria Childs, and Abraham Lincoln who said of the piece, "[It] is very pretty, and suggestive, and, I should think, excellent as a piece of art."
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Union Refugees
John Rogers
A genre figure, Union Refugees illustrates a Southern Unionist family fleeing to the North. In the piece, the father is shown standing with his gun and a small bundle of belongings as his wife leans on him in sorrow. Next to the mother stands a small child who holds a small bouquet of wildflowers. This piece was the first of Rogers's to show the harrowing effects of the War on civilians.
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Camp Fire: Making Friends with the Cook
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts camp life during the American Civil War. In the sculpture, an African-American cook stirs a pot over a campfire. A soldier sits next to the fire holding a newspaper, and the two appear to be engrossed in conversation. According to the New York Historical Society, Rogers offered a very simplistic description of this sculpture stating, ""A soldier is reading the newspaper to the cook and trying to make friends with him, so as to warm himself and get some choice bits from the kettle over the fire.""
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The Picket Guard (without veil)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture features a Union officer walking with two enlisted soldiers toward a picket line. The three appear on duty and cautious, possibly because they see the enemy approaching. The officer lays his proper right hand on the right-side soldier's gun to prevent him from firing. The left-side soldier shields his eyes with his proper left hand as he looks on in the distance.
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The Picket Guard (with veil)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture features a Union officer walking with two Zouaves (seen wearing baggy pantaloons with a fez cap) toward a picket line. Note the veil on the officer's hat as opposed to the variation shown in item # 4578.
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The Town Pump (canteen in front)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts a soldier dressed in uniform standing with a woman at a water pump. A water bucket hangs from the woman's proper right arm, while the soldier holds a cup and rests his proper right foot on the water trough. He has a backpack hanging from his shoulders and a canteen and satchel hanging across his chest. This particular rendering of The Town Pump features the canteen at the soldier's front and a brownish finish.
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The Town Pump (canteen in front)
John Rogers
The plaster sculpture depicts a soldier dressed in uniform standing with a woman at a water pump. A water bucket hangs from the woman's proper right arm, while the soldier holds a cup and rests his proper right foot on the water trough. He has a backpack hanging from his shoulders and a canteen and satchel hanging across his chest. This particular rendering of The Town Pump features the canteen at the soldier's front and a light tan finish.
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The Slave Auction
John Rogers
A rare piece due to its short sale run, The Slave Auction depicts an auctioneer selling two slave parents and their two children. The piece illustrates a tragedy that to many slaves was a harsh reality - a family torn apart at a slave auction. The piece was not a commercial success and was pulled from sale in 1866. However, Rogers said of the piece, "[It] gave me probably more satisfaction to make than any other group. By taking a subject where there is a divided opinion, of course, I lose half my customers."
