Portrait of John Brown Patterson (1787-1811)

Date1814

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

MediumPastel on paper, framed

DimensionsPrimary Support: 9 x 7 3/16in. (22.9 x 18.2cm) and Framed: 11 3/16 x 1 11/16in.

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

Object number2005-48

DescriptionA half-length profile portrait of a young man facing left, his hands not included in the composition. He has dark brown hair brushed forward around his face, pale [brown or blue?] eyes, a rather sharp nose, and wears a dark blue coat with gold buttons over a white waistcoat, white tie, white stock, and white shirt. The background is solidly covered in a dark gray or black.

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 TextThe subject grew up at "Poplar Grove" on the East River in Gloucester (now Mathews) County, Virginia, the first child and only son of Col. John Patterson (1760-1824) and his wife, Elizabeth Smith Tabb Patterson (1760-1824).
The subject's two younger sisters were Maria Booth Patterson (1791-1854) and Elizabeth Tabb Patterson (1796-1868). On September 15, 1815, Maria became the second wife of Christopher Tompkins, and this couple continued family ownership of "Poplar Grove." Earlier that year, on February 15, 1815, Elizabeth had married Thomas Robinson Yeatman (1789-1832); the Yeatmans lived at "Isleham" on the North River in Gloucester County, Va.
John Brown Patterson, known as "Jack," married October 3, 1811 (but whom is unknown). The newlyweds sailed on one of his father's ships for the West Indies, but the young man contracted pneumonia before leaving the Chesapeake Bay and returned home, where he died 22 November 1811.
This portrait's profile view, inconsistent for the larger group of Patterson family portraits by Sharples, may be explained by the belief that it was rendered posthumously, i.e., ca. 1815. According to notes made in the 1920s by Sharples biographer Katherine McCook Knox: "Tradition has it that this portrait was painted on his funeral bier."
InscribedOn the back of the primary support in ink is "48" (or, read from the opposite direction, "84") plus --- slightly separated --- "00". The meaning is uncertain.
A typed label appears on the dust cover. (See "Marks").
Another sheet, directly beneath the dust cover, is inscribed in black ink in script: "Portrait by James Sharpless/of England of/John Patterson of/Poplar Grove Mathews Co. Va/Born October 1787/Died Nov. 22 - 1811".
Yet another sheet, directly beneath the preceding, is inscribed in black ink in script: "Portrait by James Sharpless/of England, of John Brown/Patterson of Poplar Grove,/Mathews Co., Va". Below this, in a different hand, in script in black ink, is: "Born October - 1797 [n.b. this date is struck through and, written above it, is "1787"]/Died November 22, 1811".
On a cardboard backing beneath all the above sheets in black ink in script is: "A Portrait by Mr Sharpless/of/John Brown Patterson son of/John Patterson of Poplar Grove/1814". It is uncertain whether more follows, because the lower part of the cardboard is covered by a sheet of paper that is inscribed in black ink in script as follows: "James Sharpless came to Virginia between/1794 & 1798, & visited Mount Vernon where he/painted in pastel two portraits of Wash/ington & one of Mrs. Washington. He returned/to England & in 1809 came back with his/family & visited among colonial homes,/painting pictures. They were a family of ar/tists. Mrs Sharpless took portraits in/pastel, the daugher Rowlinda & both/sons James & Felix. After the death of/James Sharpless in New York in 1811 the/family were broken up[.] years afterwards/his son visited Virginia taking portraits/in pastel of many prominent people/Ours were taken in 1814,/Ella Bussell Washington".

MarkingsA modern (typed) label on the dust cover 9/22/03 reads, "Portrait by James Sharpless of/John Brown Patterson, Mathews County,/Virginia./Born October 1787, died Nov. 22, 1811/Married October 3, 1811".
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.