Thomas Stuart Burnett, plaque on grave, Dean Cemetery

Thomas Stuart Burnett ARSA (4 July 1853 – 8 March 1888) was a Scottish sculptor in the 19th century. His two principal claims to fame is as one of the chosen sculptors of the figures depicting characters from the novels of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

on the

Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, oppo ...

on Princes Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and for the famous sculpture of

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island i ...

’s birthplace of

Lower Largo Lower Largo or Seatown of Largo is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on Largo Bay along the north side of the Firth of Forth. It is east of, and contiguous with, Lundin Links. Largo is an ancient fishing village in the parish of Larg ...

in Fife.

Life

He was born in

, the son of James Burnett, a lithographic printer and

Japanner Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the ...

living at 34 Toddrick's Wynd on the Royal Mile. He studied under

William Brodie William Brodie (28 September 1741 – 1 October 1788), often known by his title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a housebreaker, partly fo ...

and at the School Board of the Trustees on Picardy Place (run by the trustees of the Royal Scottish Academy). There he won their gold medal for the year in 1875. In 1876 he entered the RSA Life School, focussing upon the human form and won the Stuart Prize in 1880. In 1881 he is recorded as living with William Geddes at Gowan Brae Cottage, Perth Street, Perth. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1883. He died in

in 1888 (several newspapers gave the cause of death as 'congestion of the lungs') and is buried in the north section of the original Dean Cemetery, towards the western end, with his wife Margaret Irving. The red sandstone celtic cross is eroding but has a fine profile head of Burnett, sculpted by John Stevenson Rhind.

Works

*Low-relief bronze panels on the base of the statue to the Duke of Buccleuch on the edge of Parliament Square, the first statue on the Royal Mile. *Statue of Rob Roy (1885),

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

*Statue of General Gordon,

*Statues of Davie Deans and Effie Deans (from the novel "The Heart of Midlothian") on the

both on the north side, facing Princes Street. *Mr David Raiker (1874) *Mr and Mrs Andrew Dougal (1876) *Ebenezer H. Murray (1878) *William Hannah (1879) *James Wilson (1879) *John Blair (1879) *Norman M. Henderson (1880) *

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

(1880) *William Grubb of Dundee (1881) *The late Thomas Sprot WS (1881) *Eugene Aram (1881) *Mrs Denovan Adam (1883) *David Pryde LLD (1884) *Edmund Edmunds (1884) *Thomas Mansfield Guthrie (1885) *Arthur Edmunds (1885) *William Forrest HRSA (1885) *The late Rev Davidson (1885) *

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

(1885) *The late David Jack JP (1886) *

(1886) (sited on a building in

) *HRH Albert Victor (1886 and 1887) * W. E. Gladstone PM (1886 and 1887) *The late Robert Riddle Stodart (1887) *Monument to Robert Bryson in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

(1887) *John Reid (1888) *James Irving (1888) *Edmund Burton, engraver (1888) *

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

(1888)

References

External links

Blouinartinfo.comVangelligallery.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Thomas Stuart 1853 births 1888 deaths Artists from Edinburgh Scottish sculptors Scottish male sculptors 19th-century British sculptors