"Why Don't You Speak For Yourself, John?"

Artist John Rogers American, 1829 - 1904

Date1885

MediumSlip cast plaster, paint

DimensionsOverall: 21 1/2 x 17 x 14 in. (54.6 x 43.2 x 35.6 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineDonated by Charles R.Wood

Object number1992.4.77

On View

Not on view

Collections

Sculpture
American Paintings & Sculpture

Signed"JOHN ROGERS/NEW YORK" intaglio printing in sans serif block capital letters on the left front top of the base

Inscribed"WHY DON'T YOU SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, JOHN?" intaglio printing in sans serif block capitals on the front face of the base. "JOHN ALDEN" and "PRISCILLA" are printed in the same way but in slightly smaller letters on two small beveled sections of the top front edge of the base in front of the respective subjects.

Markings"PATENTED FEB. 10, 1885" intaglio printed sans serif block capitals on the back face of the base #24 in pencil on the center back of the base refers to a box number according to the Lubus appraisal.

DescriptionParlor sculpture with two figures, a man and a woman, in "pilgrim" dress. The male, identified as John Alden by the name printed on the edge of the base, stands at the left behind a ladderback chair holding his hat in his hands. He is speaking to the seated female figure who is identified as Priscilla [Mullins] on the base]. She is seated on a panel-back settle while spinning yarn on a flax wheel. Oval base.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alden_%28Pilgrim%29:

"John Alden (1599?–September 22, 1687) was a tradesman who emigrated to America in 1620 with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and was among the founders of the Plymouth Colony. He was originally hired by William Bradford and others to be their cooper. Though he could have returned to England the following year, he chose to stay in the new colony. About 1623 he married Priscilla Mullins, with whom he had many children. He was one of the first settlers of Duxburrough or Duxborough, known today as Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he lived for most of his life. From 1633 until 1675 he was assistant to the governor of the colony, frequently serving as acting governor and also sat on many juries, including one of the two witch trials in the Plymouth Colony.

He is remembered chiefly because of a popular legend, put into verse in 1858 as "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by his descendant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, concerning his courtship of Priscilla Mullins, whom he married in 1623 after having wooed her first on behalf of his friend, Miles Standish. There is no known historic basis to the legend."
Exhibition HistoryExhibited in "The Sculpture of John Rogers from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Wood," March 23 to April 30, 1972, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY with accompanying catalog.
ProvenanceGlens Falls, NY, Charles R. Wood
1992, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust