Portrait of Col. John Patterson (1760-1824)

DatePossibly 1820

Attributed to Felix Thomas Sharples (ca. 1786 - after 1824)

MediumPastel on paper, framed

DimensionsSight: 8 3/8" x 6 9/16" and Framed: 13" x 11 3/16" x 1 11/16

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Billie A. Yeatman in memory of her husband, John Patterson Yeatman

Object number2005-47

DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a middle-aged man turned 3/4 to the viewer's left, his head toward the viewer. He has dark brown curly hair with sideburns and dark brown eyes and wears a dark blue coat over a white waistcoat, white stock, white tie, and white frilled shirt. The background is diagonally hatched in shades of gray-brown.

The 2 3/8-inch frame is original and consists of a cyma recta black-painted molding with a liner (possibly once gilded but now gold painted) bearing an approximation of an egg-and-dart relief design. There is a hanging ring in the center of the top frame member.
Label TextJohn Patterson was born in England. He married Elizabeth Smith Tabb (1760-1824) on 3 December 1791, and he died at "Isleham" in Mathews County, Virginia. Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward Tabb (1719-1782) and his wife, Lucy Todd Tabb (1721-1791), of "Toddsbury" in Gloucester County, Virginia.
Patterson seems to have come to America as a boy with his mother and his brother William, but the date is uncertain. When his mother died of yellow fever in Norfolk, Virginia, John and William were left orphans. In 1775, the two boys joined Washington's army. William was killed at the Battle of Monmouth in 1777, after which John was transferred to the Navy, where he remained for the rest of the war.
Patterson and his wife lived at "Poplar Grove" on the East River in Gloucester (now Mathews) Co., Va. He is said to have so named the home in honor of the symbol of the Whig Party, of which he was a member.
MarkingsA modern (typed) label on the dust cover 9/22/03 reads, "Portrait by James Sharpless of/John Patterson of Poplar Grove,/Mathews County, Virginia./Born July 2, 1760, died August 1, 1824/Married December 3, 1791".
ProvenanceThe line of descent that follows is partially conjectural and perhaps not applicable to all four family portraits that were given to CWF together, i.e., 2005-47-2005-50:
from Thomas Robinson Yeatman (1789-1832) to his son, Albert Allmand Yeatman (1831-1888); to his son, John Patterson Yeatman (1878-1951); to his son, Richard Gallatin Haden Yeatman (1907-1973); in the 1970s, to his son, John Patterson Yeatman (1938-2002); to his wife, Mrs. John Patterson Yeatman (nee, Billie Wyatt); to CWF.