Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, Sale 2342, March 27, 2014 - page 46

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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) ROGERS, JOHN.
”The Fugitive’s Story,”
large sculpture by John Rogers.
Plaster casting, 22 inches high by 15 at the base. A fine
example with original surface. (WGC)
New York: John Rogers, patented Sep.1869
[3,500/5,000]
A FINE EXAMPLE OF ONE OF JOHN ROGERS
CIVIL WAR
GROUPS
WITH AN AFRICAN
AMERICAN THEME
.
John Rogers (1829-1904) produced a number of sculptured scenes like
this that were immensely popular with middle class families. Made from plaster rather than
bronze, they were affordable and Rogers also gave them a tan surface that didn’t show dust.
Here we see three of the most famous nineteenth century abolitionists: John Greenleaf Whittier,
Henry Ward Beecher, and William Lloyd Garrison. They listen intently as a runaway slave
woman gives them an account of her escape. She holds her child in the crook of her left arm, his
shoeless feet on the desk where Whittier sits. She wears the classic “turban” common to black
women of the South. Wrapped around her and the baby is a tattered shawl; at her feet, a bag
with all of her earthly belongings.
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(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION—SUFFRAGE.) [NELL, WILLIAM C.]
Constitution Property Qualification. FOR The Property Qualification for
Colored Men.
Ballot, 5.5 x 7.5 cm, neat fold at the center; paper lightly toned.
[New York, circa 1860]
[500/750]
A rare example of an 1860 ballot for the State of New York, giving voters the option of voting
for or against the Property Qualification for suffrage for colored men.
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