James Fillans (27 March 1808 – 27 September 1852) was a Scottish sculptor, poet and artist with a short but influential career in the early 19th century.

Life

Fillans was born in Wilsontown,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

. In early life he worked as a handloom weaver, the typical trade of the area. In his early teens he was apprenticed to a mason/builder in Paisley (Hall McLatchie). During this period it seems he was responsible for the highly impressive Corinthian capitals on the Glasgow Royal Exchange (1827) (now the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art) earning him the nickname of "The Young Athenian". He moved to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the early 1830s. Setting up his own practice there he employed his younger brothers; Robert Fillans and John Fillans. Receiving financial backing from James Walkinshaw he trained more formally in Paris, France in 1835 before settling in London at 82 Baker Street. Whilst in London he met Sir

Francis Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

, who recommended him to several patrons. Incoming commissions allowed him to move to

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...

. A commission to sculpt Archibald Oswald took him to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1841, also permitting a visit to Italy and a second trip to Paris on his return. The bulk of his commissions were Scottish and he returned to

in 1851. He also was a portrait painter, exhibiting in the Scottish Royal Academy from 1837 to 1850. He was father to the sculptors James Davidson Fillans (1850 – 1906 (buried Rookwood cemetery NSW)) and Wilhelmina Fillans. Hill and Adamson photographed Fillans with his daughters in 1845. Sir Daniel Macnee painted his portrait. He is buried in Woodside Cemetery, Paisley beneath his own sculpture which he was working on for the grave of his father, who lies with him, when he died.Glasgow:City of Sculpture The monument stands alone, to the north-west of the crematorium, on the path descending into the lower north section.

Selected works

*Heads of the Corinthian columns on the Glasgow Royal Exchange Buildings (1827) *Bust of

Archibald Campbell of Blythswood Archibald Campbell of Blythswood (1763 –13 June 1838) was a Scottish landowner and politician. Life He was born Archibald Douglas, the second son of Col. James Douglas of Mains who inherited the vast Blythswood estate in Glasgow – st ...

Paisley Sheriff Court Paisley Sheriff Court is a municipal structure in St James Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The complex, which was the headquarters of Renfrewshire County Council and is currently used as a courthouse, is a Category A listed building. ...

(1838) *Bust of John Burnet (1840) *Monument to James Dick, Old Kirkyard,

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

(1840) *Monument to the author Dugald Moore,

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian era, Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of St. Mungo's Cathedral, Glasgow, Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have ...

(1841) *Monument to Dr Jacobus Brown, Glasgow Necropolis (1846) *Bust of Christopher North, Paisley Museum (1848) *Statue of Sir James Shaw, 1st Baronet (former Lord Mayor of London),

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

(1848) *Monument to

William Motherwell William Motherwell (13 October 1797, Glasgow – 1 November 1835, Glasgow) was a Scottish poet, antiquary and journalist. Life Motherwell was born in Glasgow, the son of Willan and Jane Motherwell. His father was an ironmonger. He was sen ...

, poet, Glasgow Necropolis (erected 1851, sixteen years after his death) *Monument to John Henry Alexander, Glasgow Necropolis (modelled 1852, completed posthumously by

Alexander Handyside Ritchie Alexander Handyside Ritchie (16 April 1804 – 24 April 1870) was a Scottish sculptor born in Musselburgh. Life Ritchie was born in Musselburgh in 1804, the son of James Ritchie, a local brickmaker and ornamental plasterer, and his wife Euphem ...

) *"Grief" an emotive stone figure on the grave of his father, James, in Woodside Cemetery, Paisley (modelled 1852 erected 1854) (erected posthumously and partly sculpted by

John Mossman John G. Mossman (1817 in London – 1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. ...

) *Bust of Deacon Convener William McLean (1827–28), Trades Hall of Glasgow 85 Glassford Street, Glasgow

References

*Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain *Glasgow City of Sculpture {{DEFAULTSORT:Fillans, James 1808 births 1852 deaths 19th-century Scottish sculptors People associated with Glasgow People from Lanarkshire Scottish sculptors Scottish male sculptors