Sculptor from Dundee, he trained at the school of the Board of Manufactures and the Royal Scottish Academy, where he won the Stuart Prize – the ‘blue ribbon of the art curriculum’ – in 1872 for a high relief entitled Christ Appearing to the Two Marys. This was followed by a nine-month visit to Italy. He produced statues, portrait busts and medallions, statuettes and narrative reliefs, but is not known to have carried out any major monumental commissions. Although he never received any academic honours, he took a prominent part in the debate on sculpture at the Art Congress of 1889, which was held at the newly completed Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Queen Street, Edinburgh.
Sources: Johnston, W.T., Dictionary of Scottish Artists (c.2000), Scottish National Library, ref CD-ROM.585; The Scotsman, 27 September 1921, p. 6d (obit.).
Ray McKenzie 2018