This is one of John Rogers’ multi-figure statuettes, called Rogers Groups, which was patented in 1873. These works were known for being relatively inexpensive art objects made of cast and painted plaster and popular decorative art for the period. This piece, entitled “The Favored Scholar,” depicts a pretty young lady holding lilacs in her left hand, while talking to her young male teacher at his desk. The catalogs of the time stated that these flowers wer probably a gift. The teacher is leaning over the teacher's desk explaining a problem on the slate. A young male student peeks around the desk and tries to distract the girl with twisted pages of a book or pieces of shaved wood placed on his ears, providing comic relief.
John Rogers (1829–1904) was a famous American sculptor who produced very popular, inexpensive figurines. Instead of working in bronze and marble, he sculpted in more affordable plaster, painted the color of putty to hide dust. Rogers’ statuettes celebrated the lives and values of ordinary Americans. Through his Rogers Groups he offered a snapshot of the manners and customs of the period. This education related group is one of his best sellers and was sold throughout the US and internationally. Rogers sold rights to his factory and to the production of the Rogers Groups to his foreman William Brush inn 1893, who produced copies in the Rogers Statuette Co. until 1895.