View, photographed with a black background, showing a small narrative plaster after the John Rogers' bronze sculpture patented in 1866. Sculpture is comprised of the figure of an African American girl, an older African American cobbler, an African American boy, and a ramshackle cabinet. All the figures are barefoot. In the left, the young female charge of the cobbler stands, holds a book, and points to a page that she has been reading. In the center, the cobbler, his hair receded, leans over, and looks at the book as he has one leg swung over a rickety cabinet and the other behind it. He holds a shoe buffer in his right hand that rests on the book and a boot over his left hand and forearm that rests on his hip. A second boot stands at the base of the cabinet near the girl's feet. In the right, the cobbler's male charge reclines next to the cabinet. He has his left hand behind him and his left leg outstretched, as his right hand touches the base of the foot of the hanging leg of the cobbler. An open book rests in the boy's lap. The girl is attired in a straight neck, off-the-shoulder dress that is cinched at the waist. The cobbler wears rolled-up shirt sleeves, pants, and an apron at his waist. The boy wears shirt sleeves and pants with a hole at the knee. Rogers' original sculpture "Uncle Ned's School" was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1866. Rogers mass produced and sold tens of thousands of plaster sculptures after his bronzes 1859-1893., Title from title carved in base of depicted sculpture., Date inferred from style of mount and 1866 patent of sculpture., Yellow mount with rounded corners., John Rogers (1829-1904), a New York sculptor and artist, specialized in sculpted narrative group scenes beginning in the late 1850s. He established a workshop for the mass production of his sculptures at affordable prices that were marketed as "Rogers' Groups." Rogers retired in 1893., Gift of David Long., RVCDC, Description and access points reviewed 2022.
Date
[ca. 1868]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unid. photo. - Monuments and Statues [P.2018.16.12]
