Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations 1865

Curator: This is John Rogers’ sculpture "Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations," a plaster work that captures a scene loaded with Civil War era symbolism. Editor: It's quite the tableau—stark in its plaster rendering, almost like a bas-relief freed from its wall. The weight of the war seems to press down on these figures. Curator: Rogers produced many such "Rogers Groups," affordable sculptures that brought art into middle-class homes and shaped public sentiment. This one, of course, deals directly with the political realities of Reconstruction. Editor: Look at the detail in the figures—the union soldier, the woman, and the two African American children. They feel simultaneously posed and natural. How do the means of plaster production affect the work's reception? Was it seen as "art" or domestic decor? Curator: That's precisely the tension Rogers navigated. By depicting the Union soldier distributing rations, the sculpture promotes a very specific narrative about power, and the social order of the time. Editor: The material, the mass production, and the subject matter—it all speaks to the complex ways art and everyday life become intertwined in shaping political consciousness. Curator: Indeed. It’s a powerful reminder of how art, even in its most accessible form, participates in the construction of social and political realities. Editor: Yes, and the work really compels us to consider the intersection of labor, representation, and the lingering effects of the Civil War.