Louis Reid Deuchars
Born 12 April 1870
Died 19 September 1927
Active: 1887 - 1925
Country of birth and death: Scotland
Sculptor, painter, stained glass painter
Born in Comrie, Perthshire. He attended Glasgow School of Art (1887-8) whilst also working as a stained glass painter (possibly for Guthrie and Wells). In about 1895 he made contact with George Frederic Watts and moved to Compton, Surrey to become his assistant. Deuchars worked on 'Physical Energy' and 'Lord Tennyson' though his main work was assisting Watt's wife, Mary Fraser Tytler on the Watts Mortuary Chapel (1895-1900). In 1900, Deuchars was at Mary Watts's new venture, the Aldourie Pottery at Dores, Invernessshire, where he was running modelling classes for the locals. After this he became an assistant to William Goscombe John and then William Robert Colton.
A further offer of employment from James Pittendrigh MacGillivray to work on the Gladstone memorial in Edinburgh led to Deuchars returning to the city. The association with MacGillivray quickly dissolved but another much more fruitful partnership with the architect Robert Lorimer followed. Deuchars completed all the modelling for figure work in Lorimer's Chapel of the Knights of the Order of the Thistle at St Giles Cathedral (1910-11). Further collaborations resulted of which the most substantial was the group for the Glenelg War Memorial (1920). [Information from entry on Wikipedia by Deuchars' granddaughter, Louise Boreham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Deuchars (accessed 23 March 2010)]
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
The dawn
1912
Orpheus and Eurydice
1912
The miracle
1917
Madonna and child
1920
St Margaret
1920
St Patrick
1920
Study of a head used in war memorials
1920
A war memorial
1922
Locations
Address Limnerslease Compton Guildford | View on map
1899 (Circa)
Address Dores Inverness | View on map
1901 (Circa)
Address 51 St. John's Wood Terrace St. John's Wood London | View on map
1904 (Circa)
Address Devon Villa Aquila Street London | View on map
1908 (Circa)
Address 13 Caledonian Place Edinburgh | View on map
1909 - 1910
Address 7 Caledonian Place Edinburgh | View on map
1917 - 1925
Studio located at Dean Studios Belford Road Edinburgh | View on map
1911 (Circa) - 1912 (Circa)
Unclear what date he gave up this studio
Studio located at 21 Hope Crescent Edinburgh | View on map
August 1917 - February 1920
Formerly occupied by Joseph Hayes and rented for Deuchars's use by Lorimer
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Sixth, 1922
'A war memorial'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Sixth, 1912
'Orpheus and Eurydice'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-First, 1917
'The miracle'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Fourth, 1920
'Study of a head used in war memorials'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Seventh, 1923
'Courage, Vitality and Endurance'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1899 - 1917
Exhibited 6 times, one work per year (listed as a painter between 1899 and 1904, and a sculptor thereafter).
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to George Frederic Watts
1895 (Circa) - 1900 (Circa)
Assistant to William Goscombe John
1903 - 1905
Assistant to William Robert Colton
November 1905 - 1908
Assistant to James Pittendrigh MacGillivray
December 1908
MacGillivray employed Deuchars to work on the Gladstone memorial in Edinburgh, the association lasted only a few weeks
Nominated by William Grant Stevenson
1914
Robert Gemmell Hutchison RSA (1855-1936) proposed Deuchars for ARSA in 1914 and William Grant Stevenson seconded the nomination. [Information from the RSA Archives submitted by Louise Boreham.]
Nominated by James Paterson
1924 - 1927
Paterson proposed Deuchars for ARSA in 1924 and this remained open until the sculptor's death in 1927. The nomination was seconded by the painter, Robert Gemmell Hutchison RSA (1855-1936). [Information from the RSA Archives submitted by Louise Boreham.]
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in 1901 Scotland Census
'Artist Oil Colours'
Occupation given in London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
26 July 1903
'Sculptor'
Sources
1901 Scotland Census
2007
Parish: Glasgow Maryhill; ED: 64; Page: 13; Line: 13; Roll CSSCT1901_301; Year: 1901
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
2010
London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Stephen The Martyr, Hampstead, Register of marriages, P81/STE1, Item 013 (accessed 23 March 2010)
SCRAN
1996
(accessed 31 March 2010)
Citing this record
'Louis Reid Deuchars', 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=msib6_1205858144, accessed 02 Apr 2023]
