Personally, Dowler was a deeply religious man and enjoyed an active civic life that revealed his social and cultural beliefs.  Dowler devoted much of his time to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and helped the less fortunate at the State Home and School for Children. He had passionately supported the Temperance Movement since his arrival to America as well. While Dowler embraced the fruits of American capitalism, a part of him clung to his British roots.  He was a long time member of the Order of the Alfredians. This fraternity venerated King Alfred of England and celebrated Shakespeare as the master of the English language. In Rhode Island, the organization provided relief and insurance for people of certain English heritage. Dowler held the positions of Chaplin and Deputy Protector in the Order of the Alfredians and officiated fraternity ceremonies throughout New England.

 

As Dowler approached midlife, his depth as an artist and support for cultural refinement expanded.  He avidly supported arts and history associations maintaining memberships at the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Providence Art Club.  In 1881, Dowler entered three engravings titled Ideal Head, Ice-Water Jar, and Garden Vase at the Providence Art Club Autumn Exhibition.  In 1883, Dowler entered four watercolor paintings title The Seasons at the Providence Art Club’s Fourth Annual Exhibition. Dowler also created large scale sculptor memorials.  In the late 1880s, the Pawtucket Firefighters Association and the local community raised funds for a memorial to commemorate Pawtucket Fire Department Chief Engineer Samuel Smith Collyer who died after a tragic accident in 1884.  For the sum of $2,500, Dowler designed and created the Samuel Collyer Memorial erected in 1890. The seven-foot tall bronze statue stands atop an eight-foot Westerly granite pedestal in Collyer Park at the corner of Main Street and Mineral Spring Avenue, Pawtucket, RI.  Dowler also created the John C. Sparks (1841-1889) cemetery statue in the North Burial Ground in Bristol, RI. Perhaps Dowler pursued this type of work after his eldest son died at the age of eighteen in 1886. Or possibly it seemed to be the next step in his artistic development.

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Despite his efforts, some members of high society refused to recognize him as a true artist.  For example, in 1891, members of the Order of St. George and the Order of the Alfredians in Providence formed the Shakespeare Monument Committee and Dowler served as secretary. The committee requisitioned proposals for a Shakespeare Monument at Roger Williams Park.  Dowler submitted his proposal titled Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon and competed against some of the best known sculptors at the time such as Theodora Alice Ruggles Kitson, Henry Augustus Lukeman, Victorio Ciani, Max Bachmann, Johannes Gelert, T.C. Poat  Treleaven, and George E. Bissell. Leith & Danforth of 163 Westminister Street held a public exhibit of the proposed models in July.  On August 3, 1891, the committee unanimously chose Dowler’s proposal. However, the exclusivity and the nonartistic background of many of the committee members, as well as doubts raised about Dowler’s expertise as a sculptor,  came into question. One newspaper article mocked Dowler’s humble beginnings reporting he was once a ‘mill worker.’ Another newspaper retorted that Dowler was “not yet a sculptor.” Yet another article claimed that the Dowler submission was “poor, weak and stuffy.” In the end, the statue did not come to fruition and the rejection thwarted Dowler’s chance at gaining recognition as a sculptor. Setting aside disappointment, Dowler maintained a prosperous business and continued to enter his work in competitions. In 1892,  Dowler presented two works, titled Before the Bath and After the Bath, for exhibition at the Eighteenth Triennial Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1898, he secured copyright for his work titled Meet Me at the Fountain. However, it appears that Dowler did not produce any more large-scale sculptures.

 

Later in Dowler’s career, his scope of creations ranged from high end furniture reproductions to cigar shop figures.  The Rhode Island School of Design publication American Furniture in Pendleton House distinguishes Dowler as one of the ‘key personalities who dominated the field of reproduction and restoration cabinetry work in Providence.” Along with Morlock & Bayer and R. H. Breitenstein and Sons, Dowler completed a pair of Chippendale settees reproductions for renowned Rhode Island art collector Charles L. Pendleton.  At the other end of the spectrum, Dowler carved figures depicting ‘sporting dudes’ or Race Track Touts.   While in his day, the toy-like figures were viewed as primitive art, today his touts have become prized folk art collectables. In January 1979, The Museum of American Folk Art exhibited a Dowler Race Track Tout. Later that month, it sold for $29,000 at Sotheby Parke-Bernet Gallery in New York.  Sixteen months later, it sold for $53,000 at the same gallery. In 2013, a Dowler Tout sold for $390,000 American Furniture & Decorative Arts Auction in Boston. Although these small woodcarvings represent only a fraction of Dowler’s artistic skills, the Folk Art community hails him in the Artists Biographical Index and the American Folk Art journal.

 

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Dowler devoted attention to politics. In 1903 and 1906, he ran as the Prohibition Party’s 11th District Representative candidate in Providence. In 1912, he was an alternate representative for the Atlantic City Prohibitionist Convention. In 1914, Dowler ran again as the Prohibition Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Third District.  In this campaign, Dowler suffered a humiliating defeat and he never ran for political office again.

 

In 1919, Dowler closed his business and retired, but he continued to paint as a hobby. Dowler and his wife spent their golden years in their Smith Street home, enjoying their children and grandchildren. After 66 years of marriage, Eliza passed away on April 26, 1930. Nine months later, on January 24, 1931, Charles died. Like many artists, distinction and appreciation came after death. Dowler’s obituary dramatically stated, “Charles Dowler, Sculptor, Dead.”

 

Throughout his life, Dowler remained committed to his beliefs, strove to be the best in his profession and to garner acceptance from the fine arts community. While he is revered for his remaining creations, so much of his work has been lost.  If the Canonchet Mansion did not burn to the ground 1909, and the Narragansett Hotel was not demolished in 1960, much more of his work would be accessible today. On the other hand, the backbiting press coverage of the Shakespeare Statue demonstrates the challenges Dowler faced in obtaining recognition among the elite of his day.  

 

Nonetheless, while few outside of the art and architecture community remember Dowler or his work, his significance in the nineteenth century Rhode Island artistic history may be still appreciated today. His works at the Smith Street home, Clouds Hill, the Collyer Monument, the Sparks Memorial, and the Race Track Touts have survived the test of time.