John Roger's small set of figures he called "The Slave Auction" caused a small sensation in New York. Cast in plaster for mass sale, it depicted an auctioneer, a black mother and child, and a black man, obviously the father and husband. Tensions in New York after the recent execution of John Brown, however, were such that no art dealers in the city would exhibit the piece for fear of driving away their Southern customers. Rogers instead sold the piece door to door. Rogers went on to become the country's best known popular sculptor.  (By John Osborne)