Sculptor. Mossman was born in London, the son of William Mossman (1793 - 1851), a Scottish sculptor who worked with Sir Francis Chantrey (1781 - 1841). He trained with his father and Chantrey, and then came north to work in Edinburgh with Sir William Allan (1782 - 1850). He moved to Glasgow joining his family firm of monumental masons, and went on to dominate the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for the next 50 years. His prolific output included architectural sculpture, public monuments, portrait busts, commemorative medallions and funerary monuments for wealthy patrons, mostly located in Glasgow.
His work includes allegorical statues for the Union Bank in Ingram Street (now The Corinthian), sculpture for Glasgow City Chambers, statues of William Shakespeare and Robert Burns in the foyer of the Citizens Theatre, work for the Mitchell Theatre (then St, Andrew's Halls) and the Glasgow Herald Building in Buchanan Street. His public statues in Glasgow include Sir Robert Peel (1859), David Livingstone in front of Glasgow Cathedral (1879), Thomas Campbell in George Square (1877) and Rev. Norman MacLeod (1881). Mossman was also responsible for the Hugh MacDonald Memorial Fountain and the Sir William Collins Memorial Fountain on Glasgow Green. Other monuments were provided for cemeteries around Scotland and as far afield as Bombay. One of his apprentices was James Pittendrigh MacGillivray (1856 - 1938).
He died at his home in Port Bannatyne on Bute and was buried in Sighthill Cemetery in Glasgow.
