Sculpture, “Fetching the Doctor” ca. 1881
Did you know that doctors used to make house calls? Up until the 1960s, doctors visited their patients at home, both for regular check-ups as well as for illnesses and injuries. We get a sense from the subjects here that this visit was not a routine check-up. You can almost feel the urgency behind the boy’s errand to fetch the doctor for his loved one at home.
This sculpture is a plaster model of the original bronze created by artist John Rogers in 1881. Rogers produced a large number of plaster models to sell to a broad audience of middle-class Americans, all of whom would have been familiar with the scene depicted here. Rogers described it in his catalogue as, “The boy has been sent in haste for the country doctor, who has ventured to return seated behind him on the horse. His medicine is in some danger of being spilled as well as himself.” We can see that the doctor’s bag is open, and the bottles of precious medicine bouncing inside. We also see that the pair are travelling at a fast speed; the doctor holds on to his hat to keep it from flying off, and both he and the boy have risen out of their seats as they gallop along.
In 1877 Rogers moved from New York to New Canaan, Connecticut, a small rural community. The subject of this sculpture was inspired by a Dr. Richards of New Canaan who rode on horseback to his patients’ homes and carried medicines in his saddlebags. The boy was modeled after the artist’s nine-year-old son Derby.
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