James Giles

James Giles was born in Aberdeen. He spent his working life in his native city and was a prolific and diligent artist. His energy and capacity have to be admired for he painted portraits, landscapes, recorded the Castles of Aberdeenshire for his patron Lord Aberdeen, designed gardens, including designs for the garden at Balmoral. He was comissioned be Queen Victoria to paint amongst others, views of Balmoral and Lochnagar and produced designs for damask table linens for The Royal Table, which was shown in the Great Exhibition of 1851. Whilst another surprising departure from painting adorns the roof line of the old North of Scotland Bank - now Clydesdale on the corner of Castle Street and King Street, Aberdeen. This is a large painted terracota sculpture of the The Goddess Demeter (Ceres).