Sophia Rosamond Praeger, MBE, HRHA, MA (17 April 1867 – 16 April 1954) was an Irish artist, sculptor, illustrator, poet and writer.

Early life and education

Praeger was born in Holywood,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

, Ireland on 17 April 1867. Her parents were Willem Emil Praeger and Marie Ferrar Patterson. Her father, immigrated to Belfast from Holland to work with his uncle in the family linen company, which was established in 1860. Praeger had five brothers, one of whom was the naturalist

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...

. Praeger received her primary school education at the day school run by the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian minister, Rev Charles McElester. Praeger would later teach at this school. She attended

Sullivan Upper School Sullivan Upper School is a mixed non- denominational voluntary grammar school in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and has approximately 1,100 enrolled pupils. The school motto is ', Irish for "with the gentle hand foremost". History Sullivan Low ...

, the

Belfast School of Art The Belfast School of Art, is a School in thUlster University Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciencesand is physically located at the Belfast campus. Following the results of the Research Excellence Framework 2014 Ulster is ranked within ...

and the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. At the Belfast School of Art, Praeger studied under the painter George Trobridge, and became a member of the Rambler's Sketching Club in 1886. In 1888, she enrolled in the Slade School, studying under Alphonse Legros and won a silver medal for drawing. Whilst there she became friends with fellow sculptor, Ellen Mary Rope. From 1892 to 1893, Praeger travelled to Paris to study, having been encouraged to do so by Legros and Rope.

Career

Following her time in Paris, Praeger returned to Holywood and established a studio. Having rented a number of studios in Belfast, in 1914 she built St Brigid's Studio on Hibernia Street, which she worked from until her death. Praeger completed her first large commission in 1907, a memorial to T. Hamilton for Queen's University Belfast. Praeger wrote and illustrated children's books, as well as providing botanical illustrations for her brother's work. However she is best known for her sculptures, working primarily in plaster but also marble, terracotta and stone. Her more well known pieces depict children in what is sometimes described as a sentimental style. Her best known piece, ''The Philosopher'', was first shown at the Royal Academy in London during 1920, subsequently Praeger made several copies for various museums. Her sculptures also include: * "Johnny The Jig" in Holywood (between the maypole and the Priory) * "Fionnuala the Daughter of

Lir Lir or Ler (meaning "Sea" in Old Irish; ''Ler'' and ''Lir'' are the nominative and genitive forms, respectively) is a sea god in Irish mythology. His name suggests that he is a personification of the sea, rather than a distinct deity. He is na ...

" at the Causeway School, near

Bushmills Bushmills (From Irish ''Muileann na Buaise'') is a village on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Bushmills had a population of 1,295 in the 2011 Census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available und ...

(1911–17) * Founders of Riddell Hall, Queen's University Belfast (1926) * Lord Edward Carson Memorial, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast (1938) Praeger also modelled figures for such diverse bodies as the Northern Bank, the Carnegie Library on the Falls Road in Belfast and at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral (Belfast). She was President of the then Ulster Academy, which later became the

Royal Ulster Academy The Royal Ulster Academy (RUA) has existed in one form or another since 1879. It started life then, as The Belfast Ramblers' Sketching Club drawn from the staff of Marcus Ward & Co who held their first show in Ward's Library on Botanic Avenue in 1 ...

Selected works

File:"Johnny the Jig", Holywood (2) - geograph.org.uk - 2828835.jpg, alt=, "Johnny The Jig" sculpture in Holywood File:St Annes Cathedral, Belfast, July 2010 (18).JPG, alt=, Lord Carson memorial plaque, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast File:Bird Bath Memorial, Hillsborough (geograph 5153881).jpg, alt=, Bird bath memorial to

Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a w ...

, Hillsborough File:War Memorial on Pump House - geograph.org.uk - 503494.jpg, alt=, First World War memorial on Pump House, Belfast

Awards and legacy

Rosamund Praeger plaque, Holywood - geograph

Praeger became an Honorary Academician of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1927, received an honorary MA from Queen's University Belfast in 1938, and in 1939 was awarded the MBE. She died at Rock Cottage,

Craigavad Craigavad () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying within the civil parish of Holywood and the historic barony of Castlereagh Lower. Suburban and residential in character, Craigavad lies between the centre of Holywood and Bang ...

, on 16 April 1954, the day before her 87th birthday, and was buried in the Priory Cemetery. Praeger's work in included in the collections of the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

and the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

, and some private collections around the world. A house at Sullivan Upper School is named after Praeger and her brother Robert.

References

External links