{{Short description|Scottish sculptor (1842–1904)}} David Watson Stephenson (25 March 1842 – 18 March 1904) was a Scottish sculptor, executing portraits and monuments in marble and bronze.{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Use British English|date=September 2017}} [[File:Robert Burns statue, Bernard Street.jpg|thumb|upright|Robert Burns statue, Bernard Street, Leith, 1898, by David Watson Stevenson]] thumb|upright|Wallace on the Wallace Monument thumb|upright|John MacMillan, Master of the Merchant Company, Edinburgh in 1899, by David Watson Stevenson 1901 [[File:Mary Queen of Scots by D W Stevenson, Scott Monument, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|upright|Mary Queen of Scots by D W Stevenson, Scott Monument, Edinburgh]]

==Biography==

Stevenson was born in Ratho, Midlothian, Scotland, on 25 March 1842, the son of William Stevenson and Margaret Kay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church registers – Old Parish Registers Births and baptisms |url=https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=ScotlandsPeople |publisher=National Records of Scotland |location=Scotland, UK |format=PDF |id=25/03/1842 STEVENS, DAVID (Old Parish Registers Births 698/A 30 59 Ratho) Page 59 of 193}}</ref> He studied at the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh. From 1860 he took an eight-year apprenticeship under the sculptor William Brodie.<ref name=Glasgow>{{cite web | url=http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=stevenson_dw | title=David Watson Stephenson (1842–1904) | publisher=Glasgow Sculpture | accessdate=9 March 2014}}</ref> He won the South Kensington National Prize for student sculpture with a statuette of the Venus de Milo and completed his studies in Rome, Italy.<ref>Glasgow City of Sculpture: Stevenson</ref>

He worked as assistant to Sir John Steell on the Prince Albert Monument forming the centrepiece of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh.<ref name="Glasgow" /> Here he added figures of "Science & Learning" and "Labour" on the corners. He became known for his portrait sculptures executed in marble and bronze. His best known and most iconic work is the 1869 bronze figure of William Wallace on the Wallace Monument near Stirling.<ref name="Glasgow" />

He became a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 | title=David Watson Stevenson RSA | publisher=Sculpture.gla.ac.uk | accessdate=9 March 2014 | archive-date=23 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He lived in a townhouse at 2 Castle Terrace facing onto St Cuthbert's Churchyard at the west end of Princes Street.<ref>Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1889–90</ref>

Stevenson died on 18 March 1904, aged 61.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 March 1904 |title=Death of Eminent Scotch Sculptor Mr. D.W. Stevenson, R.S.A |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=Dundee Evening Telegraph |pages=4 |via=Findmypast}}</ref> His funeral took place at his brother's home. Several Royal Scottish Academicians attended the funeral. The 1st Highland Company of the Queen's Rifle Volunteer Brigade, which D.W. Stevenson had previously commanded, was also respresented.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 March 1904 |title=Funeral of Mr. D.W. Stevenson, R.S.A. |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |pages=2 |via=Findmypast}}</ref>

He is buried with his younger brother, William Grant Stevenson, also a sculptor, in the south-west section of Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh. The bronze portrait relief head of William on the monument was sculpted by Henry Snell Gamley.

==Works==

Stevenson's most famous and publicly seen statue is the figure of William Wallace on the Wallace Monument in Stirling.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700|title=David Watson Stevenson RSA – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951|access-date=9 March 2014|archive-date=23 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=David Watson Stevenson {{!}} National Galleries of Scotland |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/david-watson-stevenson |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=www.nationalgalleries.org |language=en}}</ref> This 20-foot-tall bronze statue,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Story |url=https://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/explore/our-story/ |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=National Wallace Monument |language=en}}</ref> mounted on the corner of the monument, should not be confused with the modern statue in the parking area near the visitor centre.

Stevenson made the figures of Mary, Queen of Scots,<ref name="sites.scran.ac.uk">{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: Queen Mary |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/queen_mary.htm |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}}</ref> James VI of Scotland,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: James VI |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/james.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}}</ref> and Halbert Glendinning<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Character Statues: Halbert Glendinning |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/scottmon/pages/hisnovels/statues/halbert_glendinning.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Scott Monument Virtual Tour}}</ref> on the Scott Monument, Edinburgh (1874); the Henry Bolckow Monument, Middlesbrough (1881); Robert Tannahill, Paisley (1884) and (Mary Campbell (Highland Mary)), Dunoon (1896).<ref name=Glasgow/> His sculptures of Sir John Steell a fellow sculptor (1887) and Napier of Murchiston (1898) are held in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. He also created five of the multiple statues on the exterior of the Portrait Gallery: James Hutton; John Napier; King James VI; James Campbell and Adam Duncan.

He created the Saracen Fountain in cast iron for the Kelvingrove International Exhibition of 1901. It was later moved to Alexandra Park, Glasgow.<ref name=Glasgow/> This included a repeat of three figures from an earlier monument to John Platt (MP) in Oldham (1878). Copies were made for Town Hall Park in Warrington (destroyed 1942) and the Sammy Marks Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, South Africa.

In 1868, he created the impressive Celtic cross as a memorial to Horatio McCulloch on his grave in Warriston Cemetery.

In 1884, he created the statue of Hygieia with Thomas Bonnar's classical "St Bernard's Well" in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. thumb|Robert Burns statue by D.W. Stevenson, R.S.A., commissioned by the Burns Club of Leith. In December 1897, he received a commission from The Burns Club of Leith to create a bronze statue of Robert Burns.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 December 1897 |title=The Burns Club of Leith |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000468%2F18971204&page=6 |url-access=subscription |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=Falkirk Herald |pages=4 |via=Findmypast}}</ref> The statue was unveiled on October 17, 1898.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 October 1898 |title=Burns Statue Unveiled at Leith |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000060%2F18981017&page=10&article=033 |url-access=registration |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=Glasgow Herald |pages=10 |via=Findmypast Public Domain}}</ref>

===Gallery===

<gallery class="center"> File:Robert Tannahill by David Watson Stevenson.JPG|Robert Tannahill by David Watson Stevenson File:Detail on Robert Tannahill's statue by David Watson Stevenson.JPG|Detail on Robert Tannahill's statue by David Watson Stevenson File:Robert Louis Stevenson by David Watson Stevenson, SNPG.JPG|Robert Louis Stevenson by David Watson Stevenson File:Horatio McCulloch's grave in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.JPG|Horatio McCulloch's monument File:The Foundling Girl by David Watson Stevenson (1871).jpg|The Foundling Girl (1871) File:St Bernard's Well 02.jpg|Statue of Hygieia </gallery>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links== *{{commonscat-inline}} *[https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/artists/546-david-watson-stevenson-rsa/overview/ Royal Scottish Academy obituary for David Watson Stevenson] * Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement * [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323074836/https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib6_1210848700 |date=23 March 2023 }} (list of works) * [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/322/S/5206/artist_name/David%20Watson%20Stevenson/ National Galleries Scotland: David Watson Stevenson] (bust of Robert Louis Stevenson) *[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151094727/david-watson-stevenson David Watson Stevenson] at Find A Grave *[https://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=stevenson_dw Glasgow Sculpture: Biography of David Watson Stevenson, R.S.A.]

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, David Watson}} Category:Scottish male sculptors Category:1842 births Category:1904 deaths Category:Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Category:Burials at the Grange Cemetery Category:Artists from Edinburgh Category:19th-century Scottish sculptors Category:People from Midlothian Category:Royal Scottish Academicians