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Pilkington Jackson

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Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson
Born
Charles d'Orville

11 October 1887
Grampound, Cornwall, England
Died20 September 1973(1973-09-20) (aged 85)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materEdinburgh College of Art
Known forSculpture

Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson RSA, FRBS, FRSA (11 October 1887 – 20 September 1973) was a British sculptor prominent in Scotland in the 20th century. Throughout his career he worked closely with the architect Sir Robert Lorimer. He is most noteworthy for his creation of one of Scotland's most iconic landmarks, the statue of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

Early life

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Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson was born at Garlenick near Grampound, Cornwall the son of Ethel Katie D'Orville Smith.[1] She had married his father on the 3rd May 1886, 22 year old medical student Louis Pilkington Jackson in an irregular marriage at 138 George Street, Glasgow.[2]

Charles attended the Edinburgh Institution from 1905 and the newly established Edinburgh College of Art in 1907, studying design and sculpture.[3] He graduated in 1910 and received a travelling scholarship of £100, which he used to visit the British School in Rome. Whilst in Rome he worked with Giacomo Boni on the rebuilding of the Arch of Titus.[3]

Career

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Robert the Bruce statue near the Bannockburn Visitor Centre

In 1911, on his return to Scotland, Jackson established himself in a studio with William MacDonald, a bronze founder. During World War I he served with the British Army as a subaltern in the Royal Field Artillery and the Intelligence Corps in Egypt and Palestine, being Mentioned in Dispatches.[3]

After the war he received numerous commissions to design war memorials and these extend across the whole width and breadth of Scotland. He was appointed as "supervising sculptor" for the Scottish National War Memorial, which was planned and built within Edinburgh Castle between 1919 and 1927.[1] He was also commissioned to create numerous memorials to famous Scots, including tableaux at the David Livingstone Centre, and a memorial to Elsie Inglis, on which he collaborated with Sir Frank Mears.[3] In 1929 he went on holiday to Sweden with Robert Lorimer[4] and visited the eminent Swedish sculptor Carl Milles whom he acknowledged as a great influence on his work.[3]

In the Second World War, although being far beyond the age of conscription at 52, he again joined the army, this time serving in Scotland as a Gun Operations Room Officer for anti-aircraft guns. He had an extremely long working career leading to his most famous commission, the statue of Robert the Bruce being executed in 1964 at the age of 76. The mounted statue of Robert the Bruce forms the focal point of the memorial to the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn, and is sited to face southwards, from which direction the English army approached. The statue and monument are listed at category A, and are included as one of the 60 DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments of the post-war period.[5][6] A copy of this sculpture stands at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Canada, and an alternative version of the monument, showing Bruce on a rearing horse, was later installed at the Chivas Brothers Distillery in Paisley.[1]

Pilkington Jackson exhibited regularly at the Royal Scottish Academy, and was elected as an academician in 1956. He also served on the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland, and taught at Edinburgh College of Art in the late 1920s.

Death

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Pilkington died in Edinburgh on the 20 September 1973.[3] His body was cremated and his ashes were buried at Lasswade Cemetery, at the North end of the modern section. He designed both his own gravestone (following the death of his wife, Eve Cornish Dening, 1885–1951), and that of his parents, which stands alongside. His son, Richard D'Orville Pilkington Jackson (1921–2009), was interred in the same grave.

Selected public works

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Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes
War memorial Balquhidder, Stirling 1920 Cross Stone Category B Architect, George Washington Browne[7][8]
Memorial to the 5th Battalion Royal Scots St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh 1921 Plaque Brass & green marble [9]

More images 		War memorial Kelso, Scottish Borders 1921 Cross on platform with statue in niche Stone & bronze Category B Q17844315 Architect, Sir Robert Lorimer[10][11]

More images 		Scottish National War Memorial Edinburgh Castle 1919-1927 Numerous elements including a relief of Earl Haig Stone Category A Q7437874 In conjunction with Sir Robert Lorimer and others[12][13][14][3]
Memorial to Elsie Inglis St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh 1922 Plaque Marble With Sir Frank Mears[12][3]

More images 		War memorial Rothesay, Bute 1922 Statue on pedestal Bronze & stone Category C Q114169321 [15][16]
War memorial Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh 1922 Reliquary on pedestal Bronze & stone [17][18]
Edinburgh University war memorial Old College, University of Edinburgh 1923, extended 1952 Panels & surround Bronze & stone [19][20][21]

More images 		War memorial Alloa 1924 Statue group on pedestal Stone Category B Q1777650 In conjunction with Sir Robert Lorimer[22][23][3]
Foam Greenbank Garden, Clarkston 1938 Statue in fountain Stone Commissioned for the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow[3]
Memorial to John Charles Fraser Gibson St. Serfs Church, Ferry Road, Edinburgh 1946 Stone Gibson was killed in a plane crash in Mombasa, 1945[24]
War memorial Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire 1949 Statue on pedestal with surround Stone Q114169070 [25]

More images 		Royal Scots Fusiliers World War II memorial Ayr 1960 Statue on pedestal Bronze Q114168035 [26]

More images 		Royal Scots memorial Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh 1950 Several standing stones linked by a metal grille Stone & metal Category B Q17795453 With Sir Frank Mears and others[12][27][28]

More images 		Statue of Robert the Bruce Bannockburn 1964 Equestrian statue on pedestal Bronze & stone Category A Q17568248 [29][5]


Other works

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Bust of James Clerk Maxwell by Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson. Located in Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scotland

References

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  1. ^ a b c Nisbet, Gary. "Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson (1887-1973)". Glasgow - City of Sculpture. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Marriage record of Louis Pinkington Jackson and Ethel Katie D'Orville Smith". scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Charles D'Orville Pilkington Jackson ARSA, FRBS, ARBA". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951. University of Glasgow. 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  4. ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer
  5. ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "Bannockburn, rotunda, memorial cairn, flagpole and statue of King Robert I (Category A Listed Building) (LB49860)". Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  6. ^ Glendinning, Miles, ed. (1997). Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-1975. Tuckwell Press. p. 153. ISBN 1-898410-33-X.
  7. ^ "War Memorials Register: Balquhidder - WW1 Cross". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  8. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Balquhidder Parish Church and Churchyard (Category B Listed Building) (LB4157)". Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  9. ^ "War Memorials Register: 5th Battalion Royal Scots (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  10. ^ "War Memorials Register: Kelso". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  11. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Bridge Street, War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB35736)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  12. ^ a b c Patricia R. Andrew (2014). Chism In Time Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twentieth Century. Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78027-190-3.
  13. ^ "War Memorials Register: Scottish National War Memorial". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  14. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Edinburgh Castle, Scottish National War Memorial (Category A Listed Building) (LB48229)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  15. ^ "War Memorials Register: Men from the Royal Burgh of Rothesay (the Angel)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  16. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Victoria Street, Esplanade Gardens, War Memorial (Category C Listed Building) (LB51842)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Edinburgh College of Art War Memorial (1923)". The University of Edinburgh Art Collection. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  18. ^ "War Memorials Register: Edinburgh College of Art - Reliquary". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  19. ^ "On the trial of Public Art". The University of Edinburgh. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Old College War Memorial (1923)". The University of Edinburgh Art Collection. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  21. ^ "War Memorials Register: University of Edinburgh College Alumni". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  22. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "War Memorial, Gusset of Bank Street and Church Street Clackmannshire (Category B Listed Building) (LB20989)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  23. ^ "War Memorials Register: Alloa". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  24. ^ "War Memorials Register: Flight Lieutenant JCF Gibson". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  25. ^ "War Memorials Register: The Men of Devondale Mills". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  26. ^ "War Memorials Register: Royal Scots Fusiliers World War II". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  27. ^ "War Memorials Register: Royal Scots Monument". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  28. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "West Princes Street Gardens, Royal Scots Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB48253)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  29. ^ "War Memorials Register: Battle of Bannockburn". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  30. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Fullerton Street, Holy Trinity Church (Scottish Episcopal) including church hall, gatepiers, gates,railings and boundary wall (Category A Listed Building) (LB21586)". Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  31. ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford McWilliam and Walker
  32. ^ "War Memorials Register: British Linen Bank WW1". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  33. ^ "War Memorials Register: The Royal Bank of Scotland". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  34. ^ "War Memorials Register: National Bank of Scotland - WW1". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  35. ^ "War Memorials Register: Durham Light Infantry - Chapel". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  36. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Ferry Road, St Serf's Church (Church of Scotland), with boundary wall, gates and gatepiers (Category B Listed Building) (LB27522)". Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  37. ^ David J Critchley. "Heaven on Earth: Sir Robert Lorimer and Stowe School Chapel 1926-29" (PDF).
  38. ^ National Library of Scotland Inventory Acc. 7445
  39. ^ West, Jean (13 October 2019). "David Livingstone carvings restored in Scottish museum revamp". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  40. ^ "Sculptural Relief Crew Building (1926-1932)". University of Edinburgh Art Collection. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  41. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Ardgour Parish Church (Church of Scotland) and burial ground (Category B Listed Building) (LB1688)". Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  42. ^ ""Gerard Baldwin Brown"". University of Edinburgh Art Collection. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  43. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Abbotshall Road, Abbotshall Parish Church graveyard with mort-house, boundary walls, gatepiers and gates (Category B Listed Building) (LB45481)". Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  44. ^ Historic England. "Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin (1328779)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  45. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "137 Dundee Street, Fountainbridge Public Library (Category B Listed Building) (LB30322)". Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  46. ^ "Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
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