Thomas John Clapperton FRBS (14 October 1879 – 15 February 1962) was a Scottish sculptor, famous for the statue of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

at the entrance of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

erected in 1929.

Biography

Clapperton was born on 14 October 1879 in

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

, the son of the photographer John William Clapperton. He studied at the Galashiels Mechanics Institute, then

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

from 1899 to 1901, then the

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

School of Art in London and then the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in 1904 and 1905. In the latter he was student assistant to Sir

Goscombe John Sir William Goscombe John (21 February 1860 – 15 December 1952) was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms o ...

. After further studies in Paris and Rome, he set up studios at Chelsea and

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

, London, as a sculptor. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served in India. 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. 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 Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

, London. His work overseas includes a war memorial in New Zealand, a sculpture in Canada and a fountain in California. In 1926, a bronze sculpture by Clapperton was commissioned by the mayor of

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

, Robert Milligan, for the Oamaru Botanic Gardens and was unveiled on 7 March 1927. Milligan was inspired by Sir

George Frampton Sir George James Frampton, (18 June 1860 – 21 May 1928) was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combinin ...

's 1913 ''Peter Pan'' statue in London's

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Pa ...

and wanted a similar sculpture for Oamaru. Milligan was referred to Clapperton since he had been a pupil of Frampton's. 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 The Dunedin Botanic Garden (often incorrectly referred to as the Botanic or Botanical Gardens) is located at the northern end of central Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. The garden is close to the University of Otago and one of the ci ...

. 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. He died in

Upper Beeding Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of . The s ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

on 15 February 1962.

Public works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapperton, Thomas 1879 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish sculptors Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Fellows of the Royal British Society of Sculptors People from Galashiels People from Upper Beeding Scottish male sculptors