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Thomas John Clapperton
Born14 October 1879
Galashiels, Scotland
Died15 February 1962(1962-02-15) (aged 82)
Upper Beeding, Sussex
NationalityScottish
Alma mater
Known forSculpture, public monuments

Thomas John Clapperton FRBS (14 October 1879 – 15 February 1962) was a Scottish sculptor, famous for the statue of Robert the Bruce at the entrance of Edinburgh Castle erected in 1929.[1]

Biography

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Clapperton was born on 14 October 1879[2] in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, the son of the photographer John William Clapperton.[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 and 1905. In the latter he was student assistant to Sir 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]

Frieze at 208–222 Regent Street, London

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.[1] Clapperton's monuments are often of individual figures, rather than the large group war memorials of Goscombe John, under whom Clapperton had studied at the Royal Academy.[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 in Regent Street, London.[4][5] His work overseas includes a war memorial in New Zealand, a sculpture in Canada and a fountain in California.[1]

In 1926, a bronze sculpture by Clapperton was commissioned by the mayor of Oamaru, Robert Milligan, for the Oamaru Botanic Gardens and was unveiled on 7 March 1927.[6] Milligan was inspired by Sir George Frampton's 1913 Peter Pan statue in London's Kensington Gardens[7] and wanted a similar sculpture for Oamaru. Milligan was referred to Clapperton since he had been a pupil of Frampton's.[8] The sculpture is entitled 'Wonderland Statue' and was gifted by the mayor to his city. The work appears more ornate and intricate than the Peter Pan statue. It is reported that Harold Richmond so loved Clapperton's Wonderland Statue in the Oamaru Gardens as a child, that later as an adult he gifted two statues (sculpted by Cecil Thomas) to the Dunedin Botanic Garden.[9] One statue is of Peter Pan, and the other is of Wendy and her brothers.

Clapperton was elected a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 1938.[1] He died in Upper Beeding in Sussex on 15 February 1962.[10]

Public works

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Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Type Material Dimensions Designation Wikidata Notes

More images 		Mungo Park High Street, Selkirk, Scottish Borders 1859, plaques 1905 Plaques & supporting figures on monument Bronze Category B Q17846790 Monument by Andrew Currie[1][11]
Learning Pinnacle of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 1909 Statue Bronze Category B Q1801309 [1][12]

More images 		Fletcher Statue, Battle of Flodden Memorial High Street, Selkirk, Scottish Borders 1913 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite Category B Q17846815 [1][13][14][15]
Learning, Shipping & Mining National Museum Cardiff 1914-15 3 Architectural sculptures Stone [16]
War memorial Station Road, Earlston, Scottish Borders 1921 Celtic cross on monolith with plaques Granite and bronze 4.5m high [17]

More images 		War memorial Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway 1921 Statue on pedestal Bronze and granite 4.0m high Category C Q56614881 [1][18][19]

More images 		Border Reivers Cornmill Square, Galashiels, Scottish Borders 1925 Equestrian statue on pedestal and steps Bronze and stone Category B Q17853847 [20][21]

More images 		War memorial Parish Church, Minto, Scottish Borders 1925 Statue on pedestal with plaques Bronze and stone Category B Q17844315 [22][3][23]

More images 		War memorial Oamaru, New Zealand 1926 Cenotaph with sculpture group Stone and bronze Category II Q76908436 [24]

More images 		Wonderland / Peter Pan Public Gardens, Oamaru, New Zealand 1926 Sculpture group Bronze Category II Q66360690 [6][25]

More images 		Robert the Bruce The Gatehouse, Edinburgh Castle 1929 Statue in niche Bronze
James Buchan Brown known as J. B. Selkirk Selkirk, Scottish Borders 1931 Plaque Bronze Category C Q77771284 [26]

More images 		Walter Scott Cornmill Square, Galashiels, Scottish Borders 1932 Bust on pedestal with plaque Bronze and granite Category C Q56633764 [27]

More images 		Jimmie Guthrie Walton Lodge Park, Hawick, Scottish Borders 1939 Statue on pedestal Bronze and stone [28]
Memorial to the 49th West Riding Reconnaissance Wakefield Cathedral 1947 [1]
Springtime or Peter Pan Glasgow Green, Glasgow 1949 Sculpture Bronze [1]


References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Thomas J Clapperton (1879–1962), sculptor, a biography". www.glasgowsculpture.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  2. ^ "The Scottish Military Research Group – Commemorations Project :: View topic – Thomas J Clapperton". warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Historic Environment Scotland. "Minto War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB51163)". Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Friezes (ornamental bands)". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Libertys (1227689)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b ""Wonderland" A gift to the children of Oamaru". Otago Daily Times. No. 20042. 8 March 1927. Retrieved 10 August 2019 – via PapersPast.
  7. ^ "Wonderland Statue (Oamaru, N.Z.)". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ "The Wonder of Childhood by John Wilson" (PDF). Kete New Plymouth – Taranaki's online digital archive of current and historical local events, people, places and experiences. Historic Places – November 1999. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Statues and Structures". Dunedin Botanical Gardens. Dunedin Botanical Gardens. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Thomas John Clapperton". RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  11. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "High Street and Back Row, Mungo Park (monument) (Category B Listed Building) (LB40573)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  12. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "201 North Street, Kent Road, and Berkeley Street, Mitchell Library (Category B Listed Building) (LB33095)". Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  13. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Scotts Place, Flodden Monument, Fletcher (Category B Listed Building) (LB40574)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  14. ^ "War Memorials Register: Battle of Flodden". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Geograph: The Fletcher Statue in Selkirk (C) Walter Baxter". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  16. ^ Hallett, Howard M., ed. (1920). Handbook to Cardiff and Neighbourhood (PDF). British Association. p. 78. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  17. ^ "War Memorials Register: Earlston". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  18. ^ "War Memorials Register: Canonbie". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  19. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Canonbie Village, Canonbie War Memorial (Category C Listed Building) (LB3502)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  20. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Cornmill Square, Equestrian statue of a Border Reiver (Category B Listed Building) (LB31978)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Galashiels". www.scotlandswar.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Minto". www.scotlandswar.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  23. ^ "War Memorials Register: Minto". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  24. ^ "World War One Memorial | Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  25. ^ "Wonderland Statue | Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  26. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Scotts Place, Plaque to JB Selkirk (James Brown) (Category C Listed Building) (LB43810)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  27. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Cornmill Square, Monument to Sir Walter Scott (Category C Listed Building) (LB31980)". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Jimmie Guthrie (1897–1937)". Art UK. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
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