The Traveling Magician
Sculptor John Rogers
Born in Salem, Massachusetts on October 30, 1829, John Rogers was a prominent American sculptor of the second half of the nineteenth century. He produced extremely detailed, narrative sculpture groups that focused on themes of everyday American life, popular literature, and the Civil War. This subject matter, along with his desire to "sell many at a low price" led to his being dubbed "The People's Sculptor".
The popularity of Rogers' work was unprecedented among American sculptors; between 1860 and 1893 he sold approximately eighty-thousand works. Cast in plaster in order to be affordable, the Rogers Groups were renowned for their wit, humor, and sentimentality.
Of the over 80 groups that John Rogers produced, one is of special interest to magicians.
The Traveling Magician
This group gives us a glimpse into the life of the traveling magician in the late 1800's. 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.
Pictured at right is the bronze master model, which the New York Historical Society purchased in 1936 from Katherine R. Rogers.
Shown below is an advertisement that includes The Traveling Magician Group. It was Rogers' 49th Group. Made of plaster and painted, it stands 23 inches tall and is signed JOHN ROGERS / NEW YORK / 1877. The original Price of $15.00 was later lowered to $12.00 in 1895.
The Statue Arrives Damaged
The arrival of the group was bittersweet with the discovery that it had been damaged during shipment. The photos below show the main damage to the piece.
• The male spectator's neck has a crack all the way around. (first 2 pics)
• Large piece of fringe chipped off.
• Rear corner of base has extensive damage.
• Bottom of magicians table has a crack.
• Male Spectator's elbow has two major cracks.
The Restoration Begins
I shipped the group to K & G Enterprises for restoration on November 10, 2002. The Traveling Magician (TM) arrived without any further damage. Below are photos of the restoration process and summary excerpts from the progress reports.
Initial Repairs
• The seated man's head and arm/elbow against TM's table are secured.
• Seam lines on jackets are etched
(exception – the boy's jacket, lines drawn but no etching as yet).
• R-bar (copper) and pegs are secure on the major base corner break.
• Initial removal of paint from some areas, primarily TM's and boy's faces, and the hair on all three. This appears to be LATEX paint that is being removed.
Further Repairs
• Bowknot on girl's shoe shows the kind of detail that had been globbed over by the latex paint.
• The base after mold removal and cosmetics to fill irregularities
• The girl's hair, the grain in the wood, and much of the fringe was almost obliterated by the latex paint.
• The sign photo shows what you weren't that sure was there, the ad for the show. This is nowhere near done and will be rather time consuming and exacting to get the letters all cleaned up.
Next Steps: Cleanup and surface area preparation (light sanding and filling) and then the first coat of paint. With the first coat of paint everything that was missed will show up, which can then take care of. This will be followed by a second coat.
After the First Coat of Paint
The paint is very thin. Every surface anomaly that is missed doing the initial surface prepping shows up with the first coat of paint. Also, one cannot avoid grit on the surface of the piece in spots not matter how religiously you try to get the piece cleaned up to paint.
There are always some spots that get missed the first time around. Once the paint sets up after a few days, it will be time to set about taking care of the anomalies, grit, and detail where needed. Then another thin coat of paint is applied and the restorationist can see where they are at that point.
The Final Steps
Surface Conditioning
The second run at surface conditioning is just about completed. The first coat of paint helped identify surface problems that could not be detected otherwise, such as the man's left eye and the boy's hat brim.
The light areas are those that were sanded or filled. The piece will look much nicer after doing this surface detail a second time.
Once this is done, the piece is cleaned up very thoroughly, another coat of paint is applied, and after it sets, minor surface touchups should be the final step.
Final Coat of Paint
The third and final coat of paint. This step often goes slowly as 320 and 400 sandpaper have been used to further smooth the finish. As can be seen, the detail is coming out very nicely.
Packing
The TM is packed carefully to avoid being damaged again on the return trip.
Presenting...
The Finished Piece
After nearly 14 months, the Travelling Magician arrived home safe and sound on January 6, 2004. As you can tell from the before and after photos, not only has the damage been repaired, but the piece has been restored to its original condition.
I am very satisfied with the work done by K & G Enterprises and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to have a John Rogers Group restored.
K & G Enterprises
George Mechling and his shop. You can contact George at K & G Enterprises.
More Information
Links
John Rogers The People's Sculptor, by William Ordway Partridge Feb. 1896
Join The Traveling Magician Facebook Group
Books
Rogers Groups: Thought & Wrought by John Rogers
by Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Chetwood
Boston: Charles E. Goodspeed & Co, 1934. Limited, Numbered. 145 pp. Hardcover (decorated paper-covered boards; cloth spine) in cardboard slipcase with black & white plate on front. Five hundred and sixty-five copies of this book were printed altogether (410 of the regular edition and 155 of the special edition)
John Rogers : The People's Sculptor
by Wallace, David H.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1967. 326 pp, b/w ill., Hardcover with DJ.
John Rogers' Groups of Statuary
by Bleier, Paul & Meta
NY: Privately Printed, 1971/1976 Spiral Bound. 134 pp. Multiple Editions.
John Rogers & the Rogers Groups, 1829-1904
by Publisher: New Canaan Historical Society
New Canaan, Ct.: New Canaan Historical Society, 1988. Softcover, ISBN: 0939958031 66 pp. Title essay and two others ("The Making of a Rogers Group" and "The Care and Repair of Rogers Groups") by John Rogers, great-grandson of the artist; "Recollections of my father", written in 1940, by Alexander P. Rogers. Note: p. 51-66 consist of the Society's annual reports for 1986-1987.
John Rogers Groups
by Flint Institute of Art
Publisher: Flint, MI: Flint Institute of Art, 1976; Soft Cover. Exhibition catalog.
John Rogers Statuary
by Bleier, Paul & Meta
Publisher: Atglen, PA, U.S.A.: Schiffer Publishing, Limited, 2001. Softcover. 224 pp.
Periodicals
The Sphinx, September 1939
Volume 38, Number 7, page 178.
Genii, June 1954
Volume 18, Number 10, page 381.
If you have additional references to submit, please email me.
Known Proud Owners
Current Verified Owners
New-York Historical Society - Bronze Master
Stan Allen - Las Vegas, NV *
Mike Caveney - Pasadena, CA *
George Daily - York, PA *
Mike Elizalde - Pasadena, CA
Jay Gorham - Phoenix, AZ *
Christoph Gustin - Island Empire, CA
Mark Jensen - Murphy, TX **
Ken Klosterman - Loveland, OH *
Bill Smith
Washington Fire Company - Mechanicsburg, PA
Rodger Lovins - Somerset KY
Andrew Gressett - New Orleans, LA
Josh Jay
* Verified Owners listed below in the Magic Magazine List of Owners.
** Purchased from the William Spencer Estate. William Spencer is listed below in the Magic Magazine List.
Photo below (click on photo for additional information)
List of Owners Published in Magic Magazine March 2001
The following list is reprinted with permission from Magic Magazine.
Rob Allen - Niagara Falls, NY
Stan Allen - Las Vegas, NV
Rich Bloch - Washington, DC
Mario Carrandi - Belle Mead, NJ
Mike Caveney - Pasadena, CA
Maurine Christopher - New York, NY
Michael Claxon - Durham, NC
Bob Conners - Round Lake, NY
David Copperfield - Las Vegas, NV
George Daily - York, PA
Abb Dickson - Jonesboro, GA
Frank Furkey - Marietta, GA
Jay Gorham - Phoenix, AZ
Ray Goulet - Watertown, MA
Volker Huber - Offenbach, Germany
Richard Hughes - Ravenna, OH
Gary Hughes - New Orleans, LA
George Johnstone - Chicago, IL
Doug Kelm - Dedham, MA
Bill King - Hagerstown, MD
Ken Klosterman - Loveland, OH
Milt Kort - Detroit, MI
Milt Larsen - Hollywood, CA
George Lentros (3) - Ashland, MA
Elaine Lund - Marshall, MI
Jay Marshall - Chicage, IL
John Mendoza - St. Louis, MO
Harry Monte - St. Louis, MO
Nelson Nicholson - Orange, CT
Mike O'Dowd - Barnhart, MO
Jim Olson - Arcadia, CA
William A. Rauscher - Woodbury, NJ
Ray Ricard - Pawtucket - RI
Bob School - Nashua, NH
Tad Seymour - Winter Park, FL
William Spencer - Indianapolis,IN
Tad Ware - Minneapolis, MN
Charles Wood - Lake George, NY
Are you an owner?
If you are a proud owner of an original John Rogers Traveling Magician Group and would like to be listed please email me.
If you would like to include a photo of your TM I would be happy to post it.