Background
Alfred Thomas Agate was born on February 14, 1812 at Sparta, New York, United States, the son of Thomas and Hannah Agate, natives of England; he was a brother of the artist Frederick Styles Agate.
Alfred Thomas Agate was born on February 14, 1812 at Sparta, New York, United States, the son of Thomas and Hannah Agate, natives of England; he was a brother of the artist Frederick Styles Agate.
Agate was trained as a miniaturist in New York.
Agate joined the scientific corps of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, his name appearing on the roster of the Relief as "portrait and botanical artist. " Examination of the publications that followed the expedition, in which many of Agate's drawings of flora and fauna are included, show that Capt. Wilkes's appreciation of them was not fulsome; they are beautifully and delicately made.
He died at Washington, D. C. , according to the Academy Register, which, mistakenly, gave his age as twenty-eight.
The Academy's permanent collection contains one of Agate's little pictures, "Cocoanut Grove, " dated 1840 and given in 1902 by James D. Smillie.
Agate created many artworks during his service with the United States Exploring Expedition, as such, he created the first known picture of Mount Shasta. He 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, 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. He became in 1832 an associate of the National Academy of Design. Agate's membership in the National Academy was changed from "associate" to "honorary" in 1840, probably on account of his change of residence.
Honorary member of the National Academy of Design (1840)
Quotes from others about the person
Capt. Charles Wilkes: "To Messrs. Drayton and Agate, the Artists of the Expedition, I feel it due to make known how constantly and faithfully they have performed their duties. The illustrations of these volumes will bear ample testimony to the amount of their labors, and the accuracy with which they have been executed. "
Agate was married to Elizabeth Hill Kennedy, but left no children.
