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Checkers up at the Farm
patented 1875
John Rogers
Born: Salem, Massachusetts 1829
Died: New Canaan, Connecticut 1904
painted plaster
20 3/8 x 17 1/2 x 12 5/8 in. (51.9 x 44.6 x 32.2 cm)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of John Rogers and Son
1882.1.8
Smithsonian American Art Museum
3rd Floor,
Luce Foundation Center
John Rogers created several groups that depicted people playing checkers. The first of these, Checker Players, was modeled in 1859 and received so much publicity that Rogers decided to devote all of his time to sculpting. Checkers up at the Farm was completed some fifteen years later and was Rogers’s second most popular piece, with a total sale of five thousand copies. The artist’s wife, Hattie, was the model for the farmer’s wife who watches the final moments of the game.
For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.
Keywords
Figure group
Figure group - family
Occupation - farm - farmer
Recreation - sport and play - checkers
sculpture
paint
plaster
About John Rogers
Born: Salem, Massachusetts 1829 Died: New Canaan, Connecticut 1904
More works in the collection by
John Rogers
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