Hamish (Henry) Basil Macpherson
Other names: Henry Basil Kendall, Henry Basil Macpherson
Born 20 February 1915
Died 10 July 2005
Active: 1928 - 1974
Country of birth: England
Country of death: Wales
Sculptor, teacher of modelling for silver and jewellery
Henry Basil Kendall, later known as Henry Basil Macpherson or Hamish Macpherson was born in Hartlepool, Durham. He studied at the Elam School of Arts and Crafts, Auckland, New Zealand between 1928-34 and then at Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, under John Skeaping in the School of Painted and Sculptured Architectural Decoration and Stained Glass, 1934-1939.
Macpherson's first exhibition was from 20 November to 3 December 1934 with three other Skeaping students; John and Vivian Cole and Michael Foley. They mounted the Four Sculptor’s Exhibition at Picture Hire Ltd, 56 Brook Street, London W1, opposite Claridges Hotel. Later in his career he showed with Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Jacob Epstein, Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin. His early works were bronze and electroplate casts, he also made wood carvings of animals. As time passed Macpherson worked on a larger scale and his sculptures became more abstract.
After the Second World War, he returned to Central School of Arts and Crafts to teach modelling to aspiring silversmiths (1948-53), with a parallel appointment until 1954 at Sir John Cass teaching sculpture and modelling. Macpherson then became a designer for Vauxhall Motors but continued to exhibit whilst holding this position. Over the course of his career, he lived in London, Bedfordshire and Sussex, retiring to Mitchell Troy Common, Gwent in Wales. Macpherson died at the Brynwood Nursing Home, Brynmawr, Gwent, Wales.
This entry includes information supplied by Dr Reynold Macpherson who is conducting ongoing research into Hamish Macpherson's career. Anyone wishing to supply further information can contact him at reynold@reynoldmacpherson.ac.nz or
www.reynoldmacpherson.ac.nz
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1949 - 1974
Teacher at Central School of Arts and Crafts
September 1949 - 1953
Listed as a teacher of day classes in modelling for silver and jewellery in the School of Silversmiths' Work and Allied Crafts.
Personal and Professional Connections
Nominated by Edward Bainbridge Copnall
1949
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Nominated by Beth Jukes
1949
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Sources
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Henry Basil Macpherson
Birth Date: 20 Feb 1915
Date of Registration: Jul 2005
Age at Death: 90
Registration district: Blaeneau Gwent
Inferred County: Gwent
Register number: 32A
District and Subdistrict: 833/1
Entry number: 60
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Henry B Kendall
Mother's Maiden Name: Kendall
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1915
Registration district: Hartlepool
Inferred County: Durham
Volume: 10a
Page: 295
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
London County Council Central School of Arts and Crafts London. Syllabus and Timetable, 1951-1952
September 1951 (Presumed)
p. 31.
London County Council Central School of Arts and Crafts. Prospectus and Time-Table for the Session 1949-1950
September 1949 (Presumed)
Unpaged timetable.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of the Council, for the Year Ending 31 December 1949, to be Presented at the Forty-Sixth Annual General Meeting, 1950
February 1950
p. 3.
Citing this record
'Hamish (Henry) Basil Macpherson', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1251113281, accessed 02 Jun 2023]
