Alexander McDonald (sculptor)

He travelled to the British Museum in London to make careful studies of the granite sculptures from ancient Egypt, removed from Luxor and Carnac.

[1] In 1867 they received a hugely important commission from Queen Victoria to create a Cairngall granite sarcophagus for Prince Albert to be placed in Frogmore, with the effigies on the upper slab being designed by Carlo Marochetti.

[8] He died on 27 December 1884 and is buried in a huge pink granite sarcophagus of his own design in the churchyard of St Machar's Cathedral.

[9] On his death he bequeathed 150 paintings to Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, including works by Joseph Edgar Boehm, George Anderson Lawson, G F Watts, Sir Joseph Noel Paton, G D Leslie, Sir Frederick Leighton, William MacTaggart and Edward Poynter.

[10] On McDonald jr's death, Sydney Field also decided to quit, and sold his share in the company to Robert Ferguson late in 1884.

Ferguson kept his name out of the firm's name and renamed it simply MacDonald & Co also creating a sister company the Aberdeen Granite Works.

Notable examples include: A bust of McDonald jr by William Brodie is held by the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum.