Carve her name with pride: should women be sculpted only by women?

A Royal Mile memorial to suffragist Elsie Inglis was welcomed — until the commission was given to a male artist

- Eve Livingston

Edinburgh's Royal Mile and its surrounding streets are not short of monuments. In a 30-minute round trip, visitors can rub the nose of Greyfriars Bobby, spit on the Heart of Midlothian and touch David Hume’s toe, all thought to bring good luck. On the way, they might stop for a selfie with Wojtek the Bear, an honorary member of the Polish army who went on to live in Edinburgh Zoo, while the Scott Monument, built to honour Sir Walter, looms overhead.

According to campaigners, though, there is something missing: women. There are no freestanding statues of women in the city centre, and only a handful in the surrounding area. So when a fundraiser was launched in 2017 to secure a Royal Mile statue for Elsie Inglis, Scottish suffragist and maternal health pioneer, it quickly gained momentum. But when plans were finally unveiled last month, a bitter row was reignited about the choice of a male sculptor and his vision for the statue.

The dispute began in 2022 when the charity Statue for Elsie Inglis suddenly cancelled an open call for designs by artists for the future monument, and instead announced the appointment of Alexander Stoddart, who holds the title of the King’s Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland and whose existing works include five statues in Edinburgh city centre, two of them — of David Hume and Adam Smith - on the Royal Mile. The backlash was so forceful that all but one of the charity's trustees resigned.