Glasgow - City of Sculpture
By Gary Nisbet

Glasgow - City of Sculpture
By Gary Nisbet
We hope you will find our website both enjoyable and rewarding. It represents the culmination of twenty years of original research into the specialised subject of the History of Public and Architectural Sculpture of Glasgow. We cover over four centuries of sculptural work, with a wealth of material from the 'golden age' of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, as well as a host of work created in more recent times.

The website is now the most important resource available on the lives and work of the Sculptors, Carvers, Architects, Builders and Foundries who have contributed to making Glasgow a great and internationally renowned City of Sculpture.

Numbering over 300 biographies, these are lavishly illustrated with images of the sculpture and buildings they produced, together with portraits of the artists themselves where available. Please bookmark this page so you can return to it later as the existing biographies are constantly being updated and new pages and images added.

New! Sculpture Database Our new fully searchable Sculpture Database lists over 400 sculpture works in Glasgow, together with details of their locations, execution dates and the artists involved. It also gives links to image galleries and biography pages. The complete database can be sorted by street, district or chronologically
Glasgows Crimean War TrophiesGlasgow's Crimean War Trophies

A battery of Russian guns captured during the Crimean War of 1854-6, the Crimean War Trophies were the first monuments erected in Kelvingrove Park, and this summer marked the 150th anniversary of their arrival during the first week of July 1857. These historic monuments disappeared long ago and, until recently, no detailed photograph of the guns was known to exist.

Thanks to the discovery of a magnificent photograph taken shortly after the guns were put into position, found by Gary Nisbet, of glasgowsculpture.com, we are now able to reveal how the battery and its location looked after they were erected as a finishing touch to this section of the park. This unique, contemporary record of the guns on Park Terrace is published here for the first time, together with their history, to mark their otherwise forgotten 150th anniversary. read more…..

(16 September 2007)

Victoria Cross Memorial Victoria Cross Memorial

Glasgow’s newest public memorial was unveiled on Saturday, 1st September 2007, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry, and to commemorate its Glaswegian recipients, to whom the memorial was dedicated at an impressive ceremony at the Necropolis. The team at glasgowsculpture.com were invited to the event and we now have the pleasure of presenting a gallery of our images recording this historic occasion. read more…..

(11 September 2007)

William James Maxwell - A Missing Tontine Head

William James Maxwell (1842-1903) has been identified as a missing link in the history of Glasgow's famous Tontine Heads. Carved in the 18th century and supplemented with four new heads in the 1870s, the later heads have hitherto been attributed to Archibald Macfarlane Shannan. However, it has now been discovered that their carver was infact the little known architectural sculptor William James Maxwell. After carving the heads he emigrated to Adelaide, Australia, where he made important contributions to that city's architectural and public sculpture. Thanks to his great granddaughter, Paula Ritchie, who contacted us recently, the fascinating story of Maxwell's life and work in Scotland and Australia can now be revealed. read more…..

(29 November 2006)

MacfarlaneMacfarlane's Works In India

Sunil Richardson, a surgeon practicing in Nagercoil, near Kanyakumari, in southern India, is the proud owner of two eagles cast by Macfarlane’s Saracen Foundry for a gateway in the town in the late 1800s. Sunil contacted the team at glasgowsculpture.com whilst researching their origins and is pleased to share the story and images of these rare items with our readers. read more…..

(20 November 2005)

Death By Design: The True Story Of The Glasgow NecropolisDeath By Design: The True Story Of The Glasgow Necropolis , Ronnie Scott, 2005, Black And White Publishing, Edinburgh (122 pages, £5.99), illustrated by Pol Cavin.

The first book published on Glasgow’s most famous graveyard, The Necropolis, for over 100 years, Ronnie Scott’s Death By Design The True Story Of The Glasgow Necropolis, is destined, like its literary forebears, to become a classic on the subject.

Launched at Borders Bookshop on 9th June 2005, with Ronnie reading excerpts from his book, the large audience quickly snapped up every available copy. And a fascinating read it is too, either from the comfort of an armchair or as a companion in the field as the most up-to-date pocket guide to the Necropolis’ residents and the designers of its magnificent monuments.

Ronnie is a PhD graduate of Glasgow University and the founder of the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis, whose public launch took place on 22nd June 2005. Ronnie regularly leads tours of the Necropolis and, having participated in one, the team at glasgowsulpture.com heartily recommend a walk around the Necropolis in Ronnie’s company. Thanks to Ronnie’s enthusiasm for the subject and his witty narrative, death has rarely been so much fun, or so fascinating in its detail. Information on Ronnie’s tours and the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis can be found at http://www.glasgownecropolis.org.

Death By Design can be ordered via glasgowsculpture.com by clicking here Amazon.co.uk.
(14 June 2005)

We were honoured by RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects by having our website named as Site of the Day. That was from Friday 22 March 2002 until the following Wednesday. You can visit the RIBA website at architecture.com.
Gary Nisbet's site is one of the best sculptors' biography sites I have seen on the web. I wish other cities had the foresight to do the same. Gary's research and Tim Gardner's web skills are producing an outstanding resource!
- Richard Collins Jan 2002

( Sculptor.Org Scotland Page)

Anderston Savings Bank
Anderston
Savings
Bank

Kelvin Way Bridge
Kelvin Way
Bridge

Lord Roberts Memorial
Lord Roberts
Memorial

Statue of Donald Dewar
Statue of
Donald Dewar

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