Charles D'Orville Pilkington Jackson ARSA, FRBS, ARBA
Other names: 'P.J'
Born 11 October 1887
Died 20 September 1973
Active: 1905 - 1973
Country of birth: England
Country of death: Scotland
Sculptor
Born at Garlenick, Grampound, Cornwall. He studied design at the Royal Institution, Edinburgh from 1905 and then moved to the new Edinburgh Art College in 1907 with a scholarship in sculpture. Pilkington Jackson obtained his diploma in 1910 together with one of the college's first travelling scholarships. With this he studied in Italy from 1910 to 1911, initially at the British School in Rome. Whilst there he made a drawing of a reconstruction of the Arch of Titus, working alongside archaeologist Giacomo Boni (RSA collection).
In 1911, Pilkington Jackson's Loretto Boy was accepted by the Royal Academy and a year later he set up his first studio in Harrison Road, Edinburgh with bronze founder William McDonald. Pilkington Jackson's first commissions included collaborations with the architects Sir Frank Mears and Sir Robert Lorimer. From 1914-18 Pilkington Jackson served in the Ayrshire Field Artillery (52nd Lowland Division) in Egypt and Palestine, gaining a mention in Dispatches. On returning to Edinburgh he set up his own studio at Church Lane (now Gloucester Lane).
During the 1920s Pilkington Jackson principally worked on memorials, among these the Elsie Inglis Memorial with Sir Frank Mears, 1922 and the Alloa War Memorial with Sir Robert Lorimer, 1925. However, he also did some portraiture, such as the Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer medal, 1922, National Portrait Gallery, London. He did a great deal of the sculptural decoration at the Scottish National War Memorial (1927) including Reveille and the Earl Haig medallion. Later collaborative work included a series of 82 military statuettes for the United Services Museum, with woodcarver James MacKenzie and painter William Myles Johnston (1929-33). Johnston also assisted with Pilkington Jackson's tableaux at the David Livingstone Memorial Centre, Blantyre (1929, with Mears).
The work of Carl Milles was an important influence on Pilkington Jackson who visited the Swedish sculptor in 1929. The impact of this meeting is visible in fountain designs from the 1930s including Foam for the Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938. Pilkington Jackson was always meticulous in his research and paid great attention to accuracy. His orographical globe of c.1937, with David Linton of Edinburgh University, incorporating mountain ranges to scale was one such project.
In the Second World War Pilkington Jackson served as a Gun Operations Room Officer in Edinburgh and Dundee. From 1945 he continued to work, turning his hand to many commissions such as a bronze bust of Frederick Lugard, 1960, National Portrait Gallery, London. His best-known work from this later period, and the pinnacle of his career, was The Bruce at Bannockburn (1964). One of his final works was un-commissioned - La Poliche Libre (1972, RSA collection). He died in Edinburgh. Pilkington Jackson's papers and photographs from his studio are held by the manuscripts collection at the Scottish National Library.
This entry was written by his granddaughter, Kirsty Jackson.
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.
A Loretto boy
1910
Temple of Neptune, Paestum
1912
Medal
1913
Papillon
1913
Battle
1913
Plaster Model for Lead Garden Figure
1914
Velse caprice
1914
Toad
1919
June, 1919
1920
Memorial to be erected in St Giles Cathedral
1920
Honour
1920
St George
1922
Dickie D'Or
1922
Bacchanale
1923 (Presumed)
£55
Dickie d'Or
1923 (Presumed)
£25
Toad
1923
£15
Sir Edward Sharpey Schafer
1923
Bacchanale
1923
The dawn
1924
The Dawn
1925 (Presumed)
£55
Portrait medallion
1926
The Scottish National War Memorial: Exterior and Interior - multiple statues and panels
1927
Mosuto
1928
Jean, daughter of Lt-Col and Mrs T. T. Behrens
1929 (Presumed)
A man from Caithness
1929
Statuette in Scots Oak
1931
£10
Pulpit in Scots Oak for Ardgour Church, Argyllshire
1931
Communion Table in Scots Oak, for Ardgour Church, Argyllshire
1931
Sedilia in Scots Oak, for Ardgour Church, Argyllshire
1931
Sea nymph
1931
The Last Journey - Livingstone's servants taking his body to the coast
1931
Foam
1931
Torso
1932
Night
1932
The leader
1934
Sea Maiden
1934 (Circa) - 1935 (Circa)
Carved by Jackson with his studio assistant, Tom Bowie
Foam
1938
Night
1944
One of the Series of Eighty-three Statuettes of the Scottish Regiments
1944
The lady passing by
1947
The champion
1948
Victory, 1939-1945
1948
Charles I
1950
James VII
1950
Heraldic Supporter
1951
Locations
Address 35 Morningside Drive Edinburgh | View on map
1910 - 1913
Address 12 Church Lane Edinburgh | View on map
1919 - 1934
Address 4 Polwarth Terrace Edinburgh | View on map
1959 (Circa)
Studio located at Ravelston Elms 41 Murrayfield Road Edinburgh | View on map
1951 (Circa)
Studio located at 20 Harrison Road Edinburgh | View on map
1913 (Circa) - 1920
Studio located at Studio, Church Lane Edinburgh | View on map
1920 - 1922
Studio located at 41 Murrayfield Road Edinburgh | View on map
1947 - 1954
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Eighth, 1914
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Sixth, 1922
'Dickie D'Or'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Third, 1929
'A man from Caithness'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Fourth, 1910
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Sixth, 1912
'Temple of Neptune, Paestum'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Eighty-Seventh, 1913
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Third, 1919
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Fourth, 1920
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Fifth, 1921
'Honour'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Seventh, 1923
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The Ninety-Eighth, 1924
'Sir Edward Sharpey Schafer'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundredth - Centenary Exhibition, 1926
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-First, 1927
'Group of memorial panels'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Second, 1928
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Fifth, 1931
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Sixth, 1932
'Night'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Eighth, 1934
'The leader'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-First, 1947
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Second, 1948
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Fourth, 1950
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Fifth, 1951
'Harold H. Beattie Esq.'
Exhibited at Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, 1914
'Plaster Model for Lead Garden Figure'
Exhibited at Thirty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, 1931
Multiple works
Exhibited at Jubillee Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, 1944
Multiple works
Exhibited at Fifty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, 1951
'Heraldic Supporter'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Sixty-Second Annual Exhibition, 1923
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Seventieth Annual Exhibition, 1931
'The Last Journey - Livingstone's servants taking his body to the coast'
Exhibited at The 1922 Group Exhibition (New Gallery, Edinburgh), 1924
Exhibited at The Seventy-Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1923-4
2 October 1923 - 2 February 1923
Exhibited at The Eightieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1925-1926
2 November 1925 - 6 February 1926
Exhibited at The Eighty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1929-1930
4 November 1929 - 8 February 1930
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Institutional and Business Connections
Adjudicated on a panel at The Edinburgh College of Art
1946
For the award of Diplomas in the School of Design and Crafts
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1951
His offer of membership came from the 500th Council Meeting of the RSBS
Commissioned Thomas Hadden
Elected ARSA The Royal Scottish Academy
1956
Lectured at The Edinburgh College of Art
1929 - 1930
Delivered an illustrated lecture on 'Flair' with particular reference to Modern Swedish Art.
Member of Royal Fine Art Commission to Scotland
1946 - 1948
President of Society of Scottish Artists
1942 - 1945
Received award from The Edinburgh College of Art
1910
p. 24
Awarded Diploma
Received scholarship from The British School at Rome
1910
Received travel scholarship from The Edinburgh College of Art
1910
Received travel scholarship from The Edinburgh College of Art
1910
p. 24
Awarded £100
Studied at Royal Institution of Art (Edinburgh)
1905 - 1908 (Circa)
Studied at The Edinburgh College of Art
1906
Studied at The Edinburgh College of Art
1910 (Circa)
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with William McDonald
1911
McDonald and Pilkington Jackson set up a foundry together in 1911. Pilkington Jackson was away in active service in the First World War and then established his own studio after de-mobilization.
Collaborated with Frank Charles Mears
1921 (Circa)
Guided by Carl Milles
1920 (Circa)
Nominated by George Henry Paulin
1951
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, on the occasion of the 500th Council Meeting of the RSBS
Nominated by Gilbert Ledward
1951
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, on the occasion of the 500th Council Meeting of the RSBS
Studied with Phyllis Mary Bone
1912 - 1918
Worked with Elizabeth Strachan Dempster
For the Royal Scots memorial in Princes Street Gardens
Worked with Frank Charles Mears
1950
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1920-1921
p. 860
Listed under Sculptors Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1930-1931
p. 1205
Listed under Sculptors
Listed under Sculptors Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1940-1941
p. 1098
Listed under Sculptors
Listed under Sculptors Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1950-1951
p. 1067
Listed under Sculptors
Sources
Catalogue for the Eightieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1925
1925
Catalogue for the Eighty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1929
1929
Catalogue for the Seventy-Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy, 1923
1923
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1920-1921
1920
p. 860
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1930-1931
1930
p. 1205
Listed under Sculptors
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1940-1941
1940
p. 1098
Listed under Sculptors
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory 1950-1951
1950
p. 1067
Listed under Sculptors
Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers
1980
One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Council of The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
1973
p. 13 - Obituary
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of the Council, for the Year Ending 31 December 1951, to be Presented at the Forty-Eighth Annual General Meeting, 1952
February 1952
p. 3.
Society of Scottish Artists, Exhibition Catalogues 1892-1951
p. 41
The Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture
2004
p. 275
The Edinburgh College of Art Report by the Board of Management for the session 1909 -1910
1910
p. 24
The Edinburgh College of Art Report by the Board of Management for the session 1929-1930
1930
p. 14
Who was Who
December 2007
‘JACKSON, Charles d’Orville Pilkington’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U156041
Citing this record
'Charles D'Orville Pilkington Jackson ARSA, FRBS, ARBA', 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_1211212410, accessed 21 Mar 2023]
