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Scarce plaster-cast sculpture entitled "The Council of War" by American sculptor John Waters, measuring approximately 14˝ x 24˝ x 12˝, portraying President Lincoln seated and studying a map at center, with General Ulysses S. Grant and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton standing behind him as his top Civil War advisors. The front of the base is inscribed with the sculpture's title, "The Council of War," and the artist's name, "John Rogers / New York," is inscribed near Lincoln's feet. The piece was refinished in gray paint in the 1970s and is in very good to fine condition, with a few surface chips and flecks.
When John Rogers first exhibited his 'Council of War' to the public in 1868, Stanton and Robert Todd Lincoln praised it as the finest sculptural likeness of Lincoln that they had seen. Stanton described the scene as 'one of the most interesting and appropriate occasions' for a sculpture, writing to Rogers: 'I think you were especially fortunate in your execution of the figure of President Lincoln. In form and feature it surpasses any effort to embody the expression of that great man which I have seen.'
Unlike most other sculptors of the period, Rogers worked in plaster rather than bronze, developing a large middle-class market for his 'Rogers Groups'—small genre sculptures featuring multiple figures. So popular was 'The Council of War' that he created it in three variants, distinguished by the placement of Stanton's hands: at side, behind Lincoln's head, and forward of Lincoln's head. Includes two original stereoview photographs showing variants of 'The Council of War,' one creased at center.
