John Rogers (1829-1904) was a machinist from Manchester, N.H., who turned his hobby of sculpting into a financially successful venture. His idea was to create vignettes or interesting scenes, and mass produce them in plaster to be marketed as relatively affordable decor items.

From originals meticulously sculpted in red clay, he had bronze master molds made from which plaster copies were cast. The plaster statues were then painted, usually one overall color, and usually a neutral shade of deep tan or green. Because of the fragile nature of plaster, almost all of the statues found today have been repaired at one time or another. Some have also been repainted. The value of a Rogers statue is heavily dependent on its condition- the closer it is to original, the better.

Rogers specialized in five topical areas: the theater, the Civil War, Shakespeare, equine imagery and scenes from everyday life. The statues range in size from about a foot in height (tabletop size) to life-size. Rogers sculpted about 150 different subjects between 1859 and 1892, each one of them noted for its outstanding expressiveness.