Images(3)

General Gordon

Artist Thomas Stuart Burnett (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1853 - 1888)

Subject General Charles George Gordon (Woolwich, London, England, 1833 - 1885)

Datec.1888

Object NameSculpture

MediumSculpture, bronze; plinth, pink granite

ClassificationsSculptures

AcquisitionOwned by Aberdeen City Council under the curatorial care of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums.

CopyrightOut of copyright

Object numberABDCC001069

Keywords

Slavery-Building

About MeThis bronze figure of General Charles George Gordon, by Scottish sculptor Thomas Stuart Burnett (1853-1888) stands outside Robert Gordon's College and Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill. It was funded with a donation from the Clan Gordon.

Burnett depicted Gordon with a standing full-length figure. He is seen wearing his regimental uniform of the Royal Engineers: a tunic with large floppy braided frogging, over which is worn a great coat with a half-length cape. He wears knee length riding boots and spurs. In his right hand he leans on a bamboo walking cane and in his left he holds a pair of binoculars. He is bare headed. The figure is cast in bronze and the plinth is made of pink granite, surrounded by a set of pink flagstones and with a rounded granite bollard at each corner of the flagstone base.

Gordon's military success was based on his role in the Crimean War (1853-65) and cemented during his leadership as a captain in China in the early 1860s. His reputation was that of a popular exemplar of the then cult of the Christian military hero. General Gordon was killed at Khartoum on 26th January 1885, at the end of one of the most famous sieges in history. His career is a controversial one although he was feted in the 1966 film 'Khartoum', in which he was depicted by Charlton Heston.

The inscription on the plinth reads:
Charles George Gordon RE CB
Major-General
Born 28 January 1833
Fell in his Country's service at
Kartoum January 1885
Dedicated to his Memory
By
Members of the Gordon Clan

The lower section of the plinth reads:

'I have done my best for the honour of our country'
Kartoum 14 Dec., 1884

This piece was one of the last commissioned works of Thomas Stuart Burnett which he executed in the year of his death, 1888.

Listing Status: Grade B

Re-framing the Collection

History and Legacy of Enslavement in Aberdeen

Whilst serving in Sudan General Gordon was involved in attempts to suppress the local slave trade.