Thomas J Clapperton

Robert the Bruce, Edinburgh Castle
by Thomas Clapperton
Bronze by Thomas J Clapperton, Glasgow Green

Thomas J Clapperton FRBS (14 October 1879 – 1962) was a Scottish sculptor, famous for the statue of Robert the Bruce at the entrance of Edinburgh Castle erected in 1929.[1]

Life

Minto War Memorial by Thomas Clapperton

He was born on 14 October 1879[2] in Galashiels, Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders the son of a photographer.[1]

He studied at the Galashiels Mechanics Institute, then Glasgow School of Art from 1899 to 1901, then the Kennington School of Art in London and then the Royal Academy Schools in 1904-5. In the latter he was student assistant to Sir William Goscombe John. After further studies in Paris and Rome, he set up studios at Chelsea and St John's Wood, London, as a sculptor.[3]

Although commissioned to design a monument to Mungo Park in Selkirk this was ultimately executed by the more experienced Andrew Currie. In the First World War he served in India.[4]

Unlike the large group war memorials of Sir William Goscombe John, under whom Clapperton had studied at the Royal Academy, Clapperton's works are often of individual or equestrian figures.[3]

In collaboration with C L J Doman, he produced in 1926 the large frieze representing Britannia with the Wealth of East and West on the front of Liberty's department store, Regent Street, London. His work overseas includes a war memorial in New Zealand, a sculpture in Canada and a fountain in California.[4]

In 1926 a bronze sculpture was commissioned by the mayor of Oamaru Robert Milligan to adorn the famous Oamaru Botanical Gardens. Milligan was inspired by Clapperton' s previous Peter Pan sculpture in Glasgow Green when the mayor toured Scotland and wanted a similar sculpture for Oamaru. The sculpture is entitled 'Wonderland Statue' and was gifted by the mayor to Oamaru. The work appears more ornate and intricate than the Peter Pan sculpture. Decades later, Dunedin, another large city in New Zealand, followed this trend and commissioned two sculptures based on the Peter Pan and Wendy characters that inspired children of that era. These sculptures adorn Dunedin Botanical Gardens today but were completed by a different artist. No doubt Thomas Clapperton influenced a generation of more contemporary artists.

He died in Upper Beeding in Sussex.

Works

see[1]

References

Galashiels Monument to Sir Walter Scott
  1. 1 2 3 Webmaster, Tim Gardner -. "Thomas J Clapperton (1879-1962), sculptor, a biography". www.glasgowsculpture.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  2. ↑ "The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project :: View topic - Thomas J Clapperton". warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  3. 1 2 Historic Scotland web site http://portal.historic-scotland.gov.uk/designation/LB51163
  4. 1 2 http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=clapperton_tj retrieved March 2016


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