Alfred Thomas Agate (February 14, 1812 – January 5, 1846) was a noted American artist, painter and

miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

. Agate lived in New York from 1831 to 1838. He studied with his brother, Frederick Styles Agate, a portrait and historical painter. He later went on to study with Thomas Seir Cummings. By the late 1830s, Agate was exhibiting his work at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

in New York, and established himself as a skilled painter in oils. He was elected into the

as an honorary member in 1840. Agate drew landscapes, portraits, and scientific illustrations. For much of his landscapes, Agate used a

camera lucida A ''camera lucida'' is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists and microscopists. The ''camera lucida'' performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist s ...

, a device which projected the scene onto a piece of paper for purposes of tracing.

Expedition

Agate created many artworks during his service with the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

of 1838–1842 under

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

. He was especially good at

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

illustrations, and was the designated portrait and botanical artist of the expedition. The

passed through the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

and visited

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of lan ...

Nukufetau Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has ...

and

Vaitupu Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people (2017 Census) living on with the main village being Asau. Geography The island, which covers approxima ...

in 1841. During the visit of the expedition to the Ellice Islands (now known as

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

) Alfred Thomas Agate recorded the dress and tattoo patterns of men of

.The extensive report of the expedition has been digitized by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. The visit to the Ellice Islands (now known as

) is described in Chapter 2 in volume 5, pp. 35–75, 'Ellice's and Kingsmill's Group', http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/usexex/ Agate created the first known picture of

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades ...

. Agate contributed more than half (173 of 342) of the sketches and paintings reproduced as lithographs illustrating the five volumes of the expedition's reports. He sketched the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

, including a look into a '' Chinook Lodge'', an ''Indian Burial Place'', an ''Indian Mode of Rocking Cradle'', and a picture of the wreck of one of the expedition's sailing ships at the mouth of the Columbia River.

After the expedition

Agate lived in Washington, D.C., from 1842 onward, but his health suffered severely from the expedition and he died four years later of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

. On Agate's death in 1846, the drawings passed to his widow, Elizabeth Hill Kennedy Agate, who later married Dr. William J. C. Du Hamel of Washington, D.C. In 1926, one of her daughters from this marriage, Elizabeth A. Du Hamel, sold them to the

Naval Historical Foundation The Naval Historical Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1926, has a broad mission to preserve and promote the naval history of the United States by supporting official Sea Services programs and institutions, meeting the needs of the pu ...

. The Naval Historical Foundation donated Agate's artwork to the Navy Art Collection in 1998.

Namesakes

In 1841, Agate Passage near Bainbridge Island, Washington, was named by Lt.

in honor of Agate. Agate Island in Fiji was also named in honor of Agate. Botanist Asa Gray used Agate's drawings and the expedition's specimens for botanical reports, and named a

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

, '' Agatea violaris'', after him.

Gallery

File:Peruvian Andes2.jpg, "Andes near Alparmarca, Peru: Sketched from an Elevation of 16,000 Feet", illustration from the South American portion of the

, digitally restored Image:Nukufetauman1831.jpg, A man from the

atoll, Ellice Islands (now

) 1841 Image:Makin Islander.jpg, Portrait of a native of the Gilbert Islands (then called the Kingsmill Islands), 1841 File:United States Exploring Expedition BHL32613797.jpg, Illustration of a ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...

'' in Samoa

References

Bibliography

* * * ''Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume 1607–1896.'' Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.

External links

Alfred Thomas Agate at American Art Gallery
from the Navy Art Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Agate, Alfred 1812 births 1846 deaths People from Sparta, New York 19th-century American painters American male painters 19th-century explorers American explorers American illustrators 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Washington, D.C. Painters from New York (state) People of the United States Exploring Expedition Scientific illustrators American naval historians Historians from New York (state) 19th-century American male artists 18th-century painters