The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

jamiemcginlay · Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 930 Location: Glasgow

Hello,

I've had a request from Louise Boreham for help trying to find a sculpture (scale unknown) of a soldier seated with rifle across his knees and helmet behind his head.

Louise appeared recently on the Landward programme about her grandfather Louis Reid Deuchars and his Glenelg war memorial. She is researching into the Edinburgh bronze founder George Mancini and when she interviewed him years ago he mentioned this bronze in passing but its identity and location is unknown.

She did consider the Scottish American War Memorial in Princes Street Gardens but that was cast in the U.S and I thought of R. Tait MacKenzies small bronze 'Blighty' but the soldier has his bonnet on and rifle slung on his back. Apart from that I can't think of any other seated soldiers.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Jim

spoons · Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:19 pm Post subject:

It does sound like a good description of the Scottish-American memorial and I can't think of another. Are the Mancini foundry records available anywhere?

Adam Brown · Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 12:00 pm Post subject:

I think this may be memory playing tricks on Mr Mancini. The seated figure with rifle across the knee may be the Scots-American memorial in Edinburgh but I think there is a memorial of a soldier standing holding his rifle horizontally with his helmet behind his back. It may be a C.S. Jagger piece and it will be outside Scotland.

I'll have a look to see if I can find anything on Google.

Adam

Adam Brown · Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 12:22 pm Post subject:

The is a statue called "Wipers" by C. S. Jagger which I think is the memorial being confused with the Scots-American one.

There are two copies of it. The original on the Hoylake War Memorial and a later copy erected in Melbourne.

A copy of the maquette for this statue is held by the IWM:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/14220

This photograph is posted under the IWM's Non Commercial Licence.

jamiemcginlay · Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 930 Location: Glasgow

Hello,

Thanks Paul and Adam for the replies, much appreciated.

Sorry but there was a bit of confusion and I didn't realise Louise was talking about a work by her grandfather Louise Reid Deuchars, who executed the Glenelg war memorial. When she interviewed George Mancini she was asking him about her grandfather's work and George remembered a seated soldier fitting the above description by Deuchars. Lousie says her notes don't mention the word 'seated' but she has always assumed it was a seated figure and thinks it was likely a small bronze statuette. It might now be in a private collection or a regimental museum somewhere.

Louise also thinks it was probably cast by Charles Henshaw & Sons or more probably MacDonald & Creswick and as far as I know she has researched whatever records are available. Again any help or suggestions greatly appreciated and I'm sure If we could locate the statue it would be a great addition to Louise's research on her grandfather.

Thanks Adam for the photos of Wipers. I like Jagger but I'd never seen that one, a superb sculpture. The shrapnel helmet slung at the back of the head is interesting, I wonder if it was intended as a kind of halo. I suppose Deuchar's may well have known of Jagger's sculpture and perhaps he might have been influenced by it so the sculpture we're looking for might have some similarities?

Thanks again for the help.
Jim