Youth in a tam-o'-shanter (the artist's son, Alan Macintosh)

William Priestly MacIntosh was born near Ayr in Scotland in 1857. He studied anatomy and sculpture in Edinburgh before moving to Australia in 1880. MacIntosh’s works decorate significant public buildings in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and some regional centres, and many of them are now heritage-listed.

In Sydney, MacIntosh’s most prominent work includes 25 individual full-length portrait sculptures on the façade of the Lands Department building, two marble sculptures on the exterior of the Queen Victoria Building, the coat of arms on the Commonwealth Bank building in Martin Place and carved flora and fauna sculptures on the Sydney Technical College building façade in Ultimo.

'Youth in a tam-o'-shanter (the artist's son, Alan Macintosh)' is a rare example of the artist’s portrait sculpture. Beautifully carved and incorporating the expressive textured surface of the tam-o'-shanter into the portait, MacIntosh senstively captures the sitter's features and a sense of his youthful alertness.