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Rip Van Winkle Returned

John Rogers American
1871; cast 1871 or after
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 736
Rogers secured national patronage through large sales and small profits, producing tinted plaster statuettes that were ubiquitous in late nineteenth-century middle-class homes. Popular mainly due to their storytelling qualities, some eighty thousand "Rogers Groups" were mass-produced and marketed through the sculptor’s New York studio showroom and mail-order catalogues. Rogers often drew on popular literature. In this work based on a short story by Washington Irving published in 1819, the Dutch American protagonist returns as an elderly man after a twenty-year sleep in the Catskill Mountains. Realistic anecdotal details include his tattered clothing, flowing beard, confused expression, and aged dog.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Rip Van Winkle Returned
  • Artist: John Rogers (American, Salem, Massachusetts 1829–1904 New Canaan, Connecticut)
  • Date: 1871; cast 1871 or after
  • Geography: Made in New York, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Painted plaster
  • Dimensions: 20 3/4 x 10 x 8 in. (52.7 x 25.4 x 20.3 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Edgar J. Kaufmann Foundation Gift, 1968
  • Object Number: 68.110
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Oliver Cromwell and Charles I, John Rogers British, Engraving
Oliver Cromwell and Charles I
Multiple artists/makers
1830–40
Mary, Queen of Scots in Lochleven Castle, with a small scene of her escape from the castle below (from "The History of England"), John Rogers British, Etching and stipple
Mary, Queen of Scots in Lochleven Castle, with a small scene of her escape from the castle below (from "The History of England")
Multiple artists/makers
1830–40
Mary, Queen of Scots escaping Lochleven Castle (from "The History of England"), John Rogers British, Etching
Mary, Queen of Scots escaping Lochleven Castle (from "The History of England")
Multiple artists/makers
1830–60

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