Mary Grant (1831–1908) was one of the most eminent female sculptors of 19th century Britain, with numerous commissions from the rich and famous.

Life

Grant was born in 1831 in Kilgraston House in Perthshire, into a very well-connected family. Her grandfather was

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the ...

Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...

fame. Her aunt and uncle were Mary Anne Grant and Sir Francis Grant, both artists, the latter being President of the Royal Academy. Another uncle was General

James Hope Grant General Sir James Hope Grant, GCB (22 July 1808 – 7 March 1875) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Opium War, First Anglo-Sikh War, Indian Rebellion of 1857, and Second Opium War. Early life Grant was the fifth and youn ...

, a British military hero. These artistic and aristocratic connections would serve her well in the otherwise notoriously male preserve of figurative sculpture. She took up sculpting in her twenties, and went to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

to study under

Odoardo Fantacchiotti Odoardo Fantacchiotti (20 May 181124 June 1877) was an Italian sculptor of the late-Neoclassic period. Biography He was born in Rome, but his family moved to Florence. In 1820, he enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze. At the Acade ...

and then went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to study under John Gibson, both highly skilled figurative sculptors. After a period in Paris studying with she then set up studio in London, working under the guidance of

John Henry Foley John Henry Foley (24 May 1818 – 27 August 1874), often referred to as J. H. Foley, was an Irish sculptor, working in London. he is best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial in Lond ...

. From 1864 to 1877 she returned to Kilgraston House, and worked from there. In 1877 she moved to Ebenezer House on Albany Street, London and in 1889 to 29 Tite Street, London, then becoming the immediate neighbour of John Singer Sargent and Ernest Ibbetson. She worked much in cast plaster, using Fernando Meacci to aid in the process. She exhibited her work at the

Woman's Building The Woman's Building was a non-profit arts and education center located in Los Angeles, California. The Woman's Building focused on feminist art and served as a venue for the women's movement and was spearheaded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic de ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago, Illinois. She never married. She died on 20 February 1908 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Principal Works

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

for the Rajah of

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...

. *

Memorial fountain ''Memorial Fountain'' is an outdoor fountain created by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, located outside Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, United States. Description ''Memorial Fountain'' is dedicated to those wh ...

to Henry Fawcett, a campaigner for Women’s Suffrage, on the Victoria Embankment in London *Figures surrounding the main doorway of

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

. *Bust of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...

*Bust of

Lord Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

*Bust of Sir Francis Grant, her uncle *Bust of Lady Augusta Stanley, Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria and her aunt *Relief portrait head of Henry Erskine *Memorial to Augusta Bruce in the New Abbey Church, Dunfermline *Reredos panel at altar in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh (designed by

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott) and his wife Caroline (née Oldrid). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles G ...

, sculpted by Mary Grant) *Reredos in a church in

Kilburn, London Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which spans the boundary of three London Boroughs: London Borough of Camden, Camden to the east, City of Westminster, London Borough of Brent, Brent to the west. There is also an area in the City ...

. *Sculpted figures on screen in

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Mary 1831 births 1908 deaths 20th-century Scottish sculptors 19th-century Scottish sculptors 19th-century Scottish women artists 20th-century Scottish women artists People from Perthshire Scottish women sculptors