David Watson Stevenson

Stevenson was born in Ratho, Midlothian, Scotland, on 25 March 1842, the son of William Stevenson and Margaret Kay.{{Cite web |title=Church registers – Old Parish Registers Births and baptisms |url=https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=ScotlandsPeople |publisher=National Records of Scotland |location=Scotland, UK |format=PDF |id=25/03/1842 STEVENS, DAVID (Old Parish Registers Births 698/A 30 59 Ratho) Page 59 of 193}} He studied at the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh. From 1860 he took an eight-year apprenticeship under the sculptor William Brodie.{{cite web | url=http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=stevenson_dw | title=David Watson Stephenson (1842–1904) | publisher=Glasgow Sculpture | accessdate=9 March 2014}}

File:DW Stevenson portrait - Generated by AI.png

He won the South Kensington National Prize for student sculpture with a statuette of the Venus de Milo and completed his studies in Rome, Italy.Glasgow City of Sculpture: Stevenson

He worked as assistant to Sir John Steell on the Prince Albert Monument forming the centrepiece of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. Here he added figures of "Science & Learning" and "Labour" on the corners. He became known for his portrait sculptures executed in marble and bronze. His best known and most iconic work is the 1869 bronze figure of William Wallace on the Wallace Monument near Stirling.

He became a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.{{cite web | url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 | title=David Watson Stevenson RSA | publisher=Sculpture.gla.ac.uk | accessdate=9 March 2014 | archive-date=23 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 | url-status=dead }} He lived in a townhouse at 2 Castle Terrace facing onto St Cuthbert's Churchyard at the west end of Princes Street.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1889–90

Stevenson died on 18 March 1904, aged 61.{{Cite news |date=18 March 1904 |title=Death of Eminent Scotch Sculptor Mr. D.W. Stevenson, R.S.A |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=Dundee Evening Telegraph |pages=4 |via=Findmypast}} His funeral took place at his brother's home. Several Royal Scottish Academicians attended the funeral. The 1st Highland Company of the Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade, which D.W. Stevenson had previously commanded, was also respresented.{{Cite news |date=22 March 1904 |title=Funeral of Mr. D.W. Stevenson, R.S.A. |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |pages=2 |via=Findmypast}}

He is buried with his younger brother, William Grant Stevenson, also a sculptor, in the south-west section of Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh. The bronze portrait relief head of William on the monument was sculpted by Henry Snell Gamley.

Stevenson's most loved and publicly seen statue is the figure of William Wallace on the Wallace Monument in Stirling.{{Cite web|url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700|title=David Watson Stevenson RSA – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951|access-date=9 March 2014|archive-date=23 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700|url-status=dead}} This fine statue should not be confused with the far cruder, modern statue near the visitor centre, but stands on the side of the monument itself.

Stevenson made the figures of Mary, Queen of Scots,{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: Queen Mary |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/queen_mary.htm |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}} James VI of Scotland,{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: James VI |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/james.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}} and Halbert Glendinning{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: Halbert Glendinning |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/halbert_glendinning.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}} on the Scott Monument, Edinburgh (1874); the Henry Bolckow Monument, Middlesbrough (1881); Robert Tannahill, Paisley (1884) and (Mary Campbell (Highland Mary)), Dunoon (1896). His sculptures of Sir John Steell a fellow sculptor (1887) and Napier of Murchiston (1898) are held in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. He also created five of the multiple statues on the exterior of the Portrait Gallery: James Hutton; John Napier; King James VI; James Campbell and Adam Duncan.

He created the Saracen Fountain in cast iron for the Kelvingrove International Exhibition of 1901. It was later moved to Alexandra Park, Glasgow. This included a repeat of three figures from an earlier monument to John Platt (MP) in Oldham (1878). Copies were made for Town Hall Park in Warrington (destroyed 1942) and the Sammy Marks Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, South Africa.

In 1868, he created the impressive Celtic cross as a memorial to Horatio McCulloch on his grave in Warriston Cemetery.

In 1884, he created the statue of Hygieia with Thomas Bonnar's classical "St Bernard's Well" in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

File:Robert Burns Statue (geograph 2941353).jpg

In December 1897, he received a commission from The Burns Club of Leith to create a bronze statue of Robert Burns.{{Cite news |date=4 December 1897 |title=The Burns Club of Leith |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000468%2F18971204&page=6 |url-access=subscription |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=Falkirk Herald |pages=4 |via=Findmypast}} The statue was unveiled on October 17, 1898.{{Cite news |date=17 October 1898 |title=Burns Statue Unveiled at Leith |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000060%2F18981017&page=10&article=033 |url-access=registration |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=Glasgow Herald |pages=10 |via=Findmypast Public Domain}}

File:Robert Tannahill by David Watson Stevenson.JPG|Robert Tannahill by David Watson Stevenson

File:Detail on Robert Tannahill's statue by David Watson Stevenson.JPG|Detail on Robert Tannahill's statue by David Watson Stevenson

File:Robert Louis Stevenson by David Watson Stevenson, SNPG.JPG|Robert Louis Stevenson by David Watson Stevenson

File:Horatio McCulloch's grave in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.JPG|Horatio McCulloch's monument

File:The Foundling Girl by David Watson Stevenson (1871).jpg|The Foundling Girl (1871)

File:St Bernard's Well 02.jpg|Statue of Hygieia

{{reflist}}

• {{commonscat-inline}}
• [https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/artists/546-david-watson-stevenson-rsa/overview/ Royal Scottish Academy obituary for David Watson Stevenson]
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement
• [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 |date=23 March 2023 }} (list of works)
• [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/322/S/5206/artist_name/David%20Watson%20Stevenson/ National Galleries Scotland: David Watson Stevenson] (bust of Robert Louis Stevenson)
• [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151094727/david-watson-stevenson David Watson Stevenson] at Find A Grave
• [https://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=stevenson_dw Glasgow Sculpture: Biography of David Watson Stevenson, R.S.A.]

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Category:Scottish sculptors

Category:Scottish male sculptors

Category:1842 births

Category:1904 deaths

Category:Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art

Category:Burials at the Grange Cemetery

Category:Artists from Edinburgh

Category:19th-century Scottish sculptors

Category:People from Midlothian

Category:Royal Scottish Academicians

Category:Sibling artists