John Rogers "The Traveling Magician" Cast Plaster Statue. This is approx 15" x 14" x 23 1/2" and it weighs 47lbs. The statue is in a good, vintage condition with paint loss, cracks, and a few chips. There is some damage to the spectator's umbrella, which is very common for this statue. The magician's hat also has a damaged rim. These statues were produced in very low numbers as they were made to order. Please see the images as they are part of the description. Has the artist's marking/signature on the bottom left, along with 1877. This group gives us a glimpse into the life of the traveling magician in the late 1800s. It is easy to imagine that John Rogers got his inspiration while taking in the sights at a county fair. Pausing to watch, he saw the magician amaze and mystify his audience, while his assistant, exhausted from the day's work, dozed in the warmth of the afternoon sun. It is interesting to note that John Roger's daughter Kathrine remembered sitting "sleepily" for the magician's assistant and thought the boy probably was her brother Charles. John Rogers (1829–1904) was an American sculptor who produced very popular, relatively inexpensive figurines in the latter 19th century. He became famous for his small genre sculptures, popularly termed "Rogers Groups", which were mass-produced in cast plaster. A total of 80,000 copies of almost 80 Rogers Groups were sold across the United States and abroad. At the height of their popularity, Rogers' figurines graced the parlors of homes in the United States and were found as far away as Chile and Australia. The English novelist Charles Reade furnished his home with all the Rogers figurines available to him, and in the Dakota Territory, Lt. Col. George Custer and his wife had one. Often selling for $15 apiece, the figurines were affordable to the middle class. Instead of working in bronze and marble, he sculpted in more affordable plaster, painted the color of putty to hide dust. Rogers was inspired by popular novels, poems, and prints as well as the scenes he saw around him.