Robert Jackson Emerson was born in Rothley, Leicestershire, England, on 21 June 1878. He studied at Leicester College of Art under B. J. Fletcher and J. C. McClure, and in London and Paris. After leaving school in 1893 he served an apprenticeship in a boot and shoe factory. At the same time he also attended evening classes at Leicester School of Arts and Crafts. He subsequently worked as a sculptor and painter. He also designed architectural fittings, jewellery and metalware. In 1901 he received his Art Master's Teaching Certificate. Between 1901 and 1906 he won several awards for his work as an artist and in 1902 received funds enabling him to visit Rouen and briefly study in Paris. Illustrations of his plaster relief 'Life's Light and Soul', and six panels in silver and brass designed and executed by him are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1909 (pp.
Emerson taught at Wolverhampton Municipal School of Art from 1910 to 1942. He had a studio in Wolverhampton and created several public sculptures that were placed in and around the city. Notable among his commissions were the Douglas Morris Harris Memorial in Wolverhampton (1917); J. H. Carless Memorial in Walsall (1918); two versions of a memorial to the 34th Division at La Boiselle, France and Mort Noir, Belgium (c.1920-21); War Memorial for Butler's Brewery in Wolverhampton (c.1922); and the Mercury frieze for the Express & Star façade in Wolverhampton ( c.1932).
He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Miniature Society and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London; the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Leeds City Art Gallery; ; and the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Emerson was elected a member of the Royal Society of the British Sculptors (RBS) in 1913; an Associate of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (ARBS) in 1923; and a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRBS) in 1938.
Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRBS) in 1913. He was appointed to the British School at Rome Faculty of Sculpture in 1937. He was Professor of Sculpture at Royal Birmingham Society of Artists from 1934 to 1940. He retired from teaching in 1942.
His address was given as North Street, Rothley, Leicester in 1901; Allfields, Rothley, Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1906 and 1909; 187 Jeffcock Road, Wolverhampton in 1911 and 1913; 54 Penn Road, Wolverhampton in 1914 and 1933; and 88 Wynn Road, Wolverhampton in 1937 and 1944. He died in Wolverhampton on 7 December 1944.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
