James Alexander Stevenson was born in Chester, Cheshire on 18 October 1881 and studied under Édouard Lantéri (1848-1917) at the Royal College of Art in London from 1900, and the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1906 to 1909. He subsequently worked as a sculptor and medallist. He participated in the Exhibition of Decorative Art at the Royal Academy in 1923. He also exhibited in the Summer Exhibitions at the Royal Academy from 1906 to 1938, and at the Royal Miniature Society, the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, and Dudley Gallery in London; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; the Royal Scottish Academy; and at the Paris Salon. From 1911 to 1914 he was Modelling Master at Regent's Street Polytechnic.