Vintage or antique Large John Rogers First Love Statue - Large Chalkware Statue Boy w/ Girl in Pastel Colors - Shabby Chic Home Decor Statue

A large and wonderfully touching statue of a young pair of lovers in pastel chalkware that is quite large and heavy for a chalkware statue. This is a statue by John Rogers an artist who sculpted in the late 19th century. This work is called "FIRST LOVE" and has been painted - it was this way when I found it. Originally, these Rogers statues were not painted. See note below for more about this artist.

The pair of young loves are dressed in country style turn-of-the-century play clothes and the young lady has a large yellow hat at her side. It is entitled "First Love" on a plaque area etched into the front of the base of this vintage statue. A great shabby chic or cottage chic home decor piece of yesteryear.

Measures 13" high and 12" wide.

Weighs more than 9 lbs. before packaging for shipment.

In good antique or vintage condition with some light chipping / paint loss in various places.

WATCH A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE - there is a short video with shots of this statue at this link below. You can copy and paste it in your browser to view it - http://youtu.be/qg_sioQmA2I

NOTE:John Rogers (1829–1904) was an American sculptor who produced very popular, relatively inexpensive figurines in the latter 19th century.

He became famous for his small genre sculptures, popularly termed "Rogers Groups", which were mass-produced in cast plaster. A total of 80,000 copies of almost 80 Rogers Groups were sold across the United States and abroad.

At the height of their popularity, Rogers' figurines graced the parlors of homes in the United States and were found as far away as Chile and Australia. The English novelist Charles Reade furnished his home with all the Rogers figurines available to him, and in the Dakota Territory, Lt. Col. George Custer and his wife had one. Often selling for $15 apiece, the figurines were affordable to the middle class

Instead of working in bronze and marble, he sculpted in more affordable plaster, painted the color of putty to hide dust. Rogers was inspired by popular novels, poems and prints as well as the scenes he saw around him.