The Council of War
John Rogers
Decorative Arts and Design
This sculptural group was a memorial to Abraham Lincoln and the recent war, and was marketed as such to a wide audience of upper-middle-class Americans. It represents the seated president receiving the map of a battle plan from General Ulysses S. Grant and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The sculptor John Rogers established his reputation for this type of narrative figure group by 1863 with a work titled Union Refugees, which was initially rendered in bronze. Rogers's method of patenting his designs and replicating them in plaster made him the first American to mass-produce sculpture for a popular market.
MEDIUM
Plaster
DATES
1868
DIMENSIONS
height: 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Inscribed with maker's name.
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed around front of base: "THE COUNCIL OF WAR"
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
54.206
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Roger L. Simons, by exchange
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Cast plaster sculpture of figural group. Civil War scene representing President Lincoln seated between Secretary of War Stanton (proper left) and General Grant (proper right), and reading a large paper. Figures are on a circular base flattened in back.
Condition: Good repaired and painted.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
John Rogers (American, 1829â1904). The Council of War, 1868. Plaster, height: 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Roger L. Simons, by exchange, 54.206. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 54.206_acetate_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 54.206_acetate_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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