AFA Autumn 2019

Autumn 102 www.afamag.com |  www.incollect.com Old Glory so prominently, but it could represent any number of battle scenes. Ships in a harbor—Portsmouth, New Hampshire, perhaps?— feature in a peaceful townscape (Fig. 9) that depicts outlines of a dozen or more buildings on a small knoll rising above a waterfront that contains two vessels. Two of Patten’s most complex drawings are enclosed in circular borders. One directs the viewer’s eye to follow a Y-shaped path through fenced fields (Fig. 10). The right-hand path leads to a small pent-roof structure. Across the width of the landscape are a group of three- and four-story buildings, separated by tall evergreen trees. A related work (Fig. 11) shows a small domestic-scale dwelling, with several trees and a fenced-in field in the front. To the right, in the distance beyond a post-and-rail fence, is a large three-story building with an institutional appearance. Featuring a projecting center section with a triangular pediment, it resembles Dartmouth Fig. 9: Rufus E. Patten (1807–1879), Harbor scene, ca. 1825–1835. Ink on paper, ¾ x 1⅜ inches. Collection of Craig and Alison Jewett. Hall, built in 1784, a landmark of the Dartmouth College campus; the scene could also represent another New England collegiate building. 5 The circular border here is embellished at the top with a charming drawing of a dove. The biographical sketch by Wilson Palmer describes some aspects of Patten’s personality and character that may have enabled him to execute such tiny, painstaking works. Palmer, according to Patten, “never hastened matters . . . He recognized the fact that ‘the world was not made in a day,’ so he was willing to take his time.” That Patten did not pursue the often-solitary career as an artist, may have been in part because he was a “. . . f luent conversationalist . . . the listener, however much in haste he might have been, taking little note of time.”  6 Interested in politics, Patten was “a democrat of the Jeffersonian stamp.” In addition to being a farmer, he “filled nearly every public position in his town,” including that of town moderator from 1842 to 1850, and again in 1853, as well as justice of the peace. He is said to have presided fairly and gracefully at town meeting and was credited with introducing the custom of beginning each meeting with a prayer. 7 He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and also served in the local regiment, as a field officer and later lieutenant colonel. In 1850, he was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. A few years before his death, he accepted the task of placing small marble monuments over the graves of 118 soldiers who were buried in Candia. Two of his diaries survive, and one from 1869–1870 indicates the growing importance of religion in his life as he grew older. His well-attended funeral in 1879, held at the Methodist Church, was marked by Masonic honors. 8 Although he didn’t pursue an artistic career, Patten’s tiny drawings remind us that folk art can be found in many places and in many sizes. Despite all his public service and personal qualities, he is likely to be best remembered for these miniature triumphs of draftsmanship that have miraculously survived the vicissitudes of time.  New Hampshire Folk Art: By the People, For the People , was organized by the Portsmouth Historical Society and is on view at Discover Portsmouth Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, through September 29, 2019. For more details, call 603.436.8433 or visit portsmouthhistory.org . Gerald W.R. Ward is the consulting curator and editor of the Portsmouth Marine Society Press at the Portsmouth Historical Society; the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and an adjunct faculty member at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He is also a New Hampshire State Representative. The author is grateful to Craig and Alison Jewett for graciously bringing the Patten material to his attention; to Ralph Morang for his photographs; and to Meredith Affleck and Barbara McLean Ward for their assistance. Photography, with the exception of figure 1, by Ralph Morang.