Anna Larkin (1855–1939) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

folk sculptor. Larkin, born Anna Elisabet Jonsdotter, began carving when she was seven years old, and at ten sold a carving of a horse to a sea captain for $10, a transaction which inspired her to pursue her passion for art. She became well known in Sweden, eventually selling a pair of model horses to

King Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

. Her work won many prizes and she taught a great deal. With her children, Jonsdotter, now known as Johnson, emigrated to the United States in 1887. The family settled in Arkansas City,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

for a time. Later she married John Larkin, and the couple moved to

McPherson, Kansas McPherson () is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,082. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general. It i ...

, where she resided until her death. A large collection of Larkin's work belongs to the

McPherson Museum The McPherson Museum of McPherson, Kansas, is a local history museum that preserves the historical and cultural heritage of the McPherson community. The museum In 1968, McPherson College and the city of McPherson formed a public-private partnersh ...

; the Grassroots Art Center in

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

contains examples of her sculpture as well. Larkin favored varieties of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, especially

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

and

sugar pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name ''lambertiana'' was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, ...

, when carving her pieces, and an average sculpture took about two days to carve. After cutting the rough shape, the next day she would use a

paring knife A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives – notably a large chef's knife, a tough cleaver, a small paring knife and some sort of ...

to develop the details of the work, finishing by rubbing it with a piece of glass and two grades of

sandpaper upright=1.35, Sheets of sandpaper with different grit sizes (40 (coarse), 80, 150, 240, 600 (fine)). Sandpaper and glasspaper are names used for a type of coated abrasive that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with abrasive material glued to ...

References

1855 births 1939 deaths Swedish women sculptors Swedish emigrants to the United States 19th-century Swedish sculptors 20th-century Swedish sculptors 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors People from Arkansas City, Kansas People from McPherson, Kansas Artists from Kansas 19th-century Swedish women artists 20th-century Swedish women artists 19th-century American women sculptors {{US-sculptor-stub