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 ARSA, 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[]

Robert the Bruce statue near the Bannockburn Visitor Centre

Charles d'Orville was born at Garlenick near Grampound, Cornwall the son of Ethel Katie D'Orville.[1] She married Louis Pilkington Jackson soon after, who may be presumed to be Charles' father, leading him to adopt his name in later life.

Charles attended the Edinburgh Institution from 1905 and the newly established Edinburgh College of Art in 1907, studying design and sculpture.[2] 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.[2]

Career[]

In 1911, on his return to Scotland, he established himself in a studio with William MacDonald, a bronze founder. During World War 1 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.[2]

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.[2] In 1929 he went on holiday to Sweden with Robert Lorimer[3] and visited the eminent Swedish sculptor Carl Milles whom he acknowledged as a great influence on his work.[2]

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 coastal defence 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.[4][5] 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[]

Pilkington died in Edinburgh on the 20 September 1973.[2] 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.

Principal works[]

Memorial to Elsie Inglis in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh (1922)
Haddington War Memorial
Bust of James Clerk Maxwell by Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson. Located in Marischal College, Aberdeen, Scotland
Foam (1938), commissioned for the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, now at Greenbank Garden, Clarkston

1910-1919[]

1920-1924[]

1925-1929[]

Alloa War Memorial (1925)

1930-1939[]

  • Pair of low relief gilded bronze heads flanking the Thistle Chapel in St. Giles Cathedral to James Cameron Lees and Andrew Wallace Williamson (1931)
  • A series of bronze tableaux depicting the life of David Livingstone for the David Livingstone Centre at Blantyre (1929)[21]
  • Series of 82 military statuettes for the United Services Museum in Edinburgh Castle (1929–33)
  • Mock 16th century inscriptions on the front of Huntly House, Canongate, Edinburgh (1930)
  • Monument to the child author Marjorie Fleming in Kirkcaldy Parish Church (1930)
  • Bust of Gerard Baldwin Brown, Edinburgh University (1931)[22]
  • Robert Lister Bower memorial (1931)
  • Memorial to King Khama III (1933)
  • Sculpture over entrance, Dundee Street Library, Edinburgh (1938)
  • Foam, fountain at the Empire Exhibition Glasgow (1938)

1940-1949[]

The unusual monument to a plane crash, St. Serfs Church, Ferry Rd Edinburgh, by Pilkington Jackson
  • Monument to John Charles Fraser Gibson, killed in a plane crash in Mombasa 1945, St. Serfs Church, Ferry Road, Edinburgh (1946)[23]
  • Repairs and WW2 additions to Sheffield war memorial (1946)
  • Fettes College war memorial WW2 additions and extension (1947)
  • "Orographical Globe" at Eton College (1948)
  • Dunkeld war memorial (1948)
  • Devondale war memorial (WW2) in Tillicoultry (1949)

1950-1959[]

1960 an later[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Nisbet, Gary. "Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson (1887-1973)". Glasgow - City of Sculpture. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "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.
  3. ^ Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer
  4. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  5. ^ Glendinning, Miles, ed. (1997). Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-1975. Tuckwell Press. p. 153. ISBN 1-898410-33-X.
  6. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  7. ^ "War Memorials Register: Scottish National War Memorial". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  8. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Edinburgh Castle, Scottish National War Memorial (Category A Listed Building) (LB48229)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  9. ^ "War Memorials Register: Balquhidder - WW1 Cross". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  10. ^ "War Memorials Register: 5th Battalion Royal Scots (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  11. ^ "War Memorials Register: National Bank of Scotland - WW1". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  12. ^ "War Memorials Register: Kelso". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  13. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Bridge Street, War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB35736)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  14. ^ "War Memorials Register: Men from the Royal Burgh of Rothesay (the Angel)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  15. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Victoria Street, Esplanade Gardens, War Memorial (Category C Listed Building) (LB51842)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  16. ^ "War Memorials Register: British Linen Bank WW1". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  17. ^ "On the trial of Public Art". The University of Edinburgh. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  18. ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford McWilliam and Walker
  19. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "War Memorial, Gusset of Bank Street and Church Street Clackmannshire (Category B Listed Building) (LB20989)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  20. ^ National Library of Scotland Inventory Acc. 7445
  21. ^ West, Jean (13 October 2019). "David Livingstone carvings restored in Scottish museum revamp". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  22. ^ ""Gerard Baldwin Brown"". ed.ac.uk.
  23. ^ "War Memorials Register: Flight Lieutenant JCF Gibson". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  24. ^ "War Memorials Register: Royal Scots Monument". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  25. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "West Princes Street Gardens, Royal Scots Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB48253)". Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  26. ^ "War Memorials Register: Battle of Bannockburn". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2021.

External links[]

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