The Council of War

Artist John Rogers (American, 1829-1904)

Date1868

DimensionsH: 24 in. (61 cm); L (base): 15 in. (38.1 cm); Depth: 13 in. (33 cm)

MediumPlaster of paris, painted bronze

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Mrs. William H. Hill

Object number

1953.163

Not on View

DescriptionLeft to Right: Grant, Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton

Label TextKnown for his tabletop sculpture groups of scenes of everyday life, John Rogers here creates an imagined meeting between General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814–1869) concerning the Civil War (1861–65). It was his first sculpture to portray nationally known individuals, and the painted plaster casts sold briskly at 20 dollars each. Secretary of War Stanton wrote to Rogers: “…you were especially fortunate in your execution of the figure of President Lincoln. In form and feature it surpasses any effort to embody the expression of that great man which I have seen.” Lincoln’s son, Tad, agreed, declaring it the best likeness of his father that he had ever seen.Published ReferencesSmith, Mr. and Mrs. C., Rogers Groups, Boston, 1934, p. 73, no. 24 (this is the catalogue raisonné).

Midwest Museums Quarterly, Winter, 1962, repr. p. 4.

Wallace, David H., John Rogers, the People's Sculptor, Middletown, CN, 1967, p. 220, repr. p. 219.

Wallace, David H., "The Art of John Rogers: So Real and So True," The American Art Journal, vol. 4, no. 2, Nov. 1972, pp. 62, 63, and fig. 4.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The American Civil War: Through Artists’ Eyes, April 3-July 5, 2015.Comparative ReferencesSee also Bleier, Paul and Meta, John Rogers' Groups of Statuary, N. Woodmere, New York, 1971, pp. opp. fig. 77, and opp. fig. 78, repr. fig. 77.