Anne Crawford Acheson

Anne Crawford Acheson (5 August 1882 – 13 March 1962) was a British-Irish sculptor. She and Elinor Hallé invented plaster casts for soldier's broken limbs. Acheson exhibited at the Royal Academy and internationally. She was awarded the CBE in 1919. During the First World War she worked for the Surgical Requisites Association at Mulberry Walk in Chelsea, London. Acheson received the Gleichen Memorial Award in 1938. She divided her time between London and Glenavy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Career

Acheson was born at Portadown in County Armagh to John Acheson, a manufacturer, and his wife, Harriet Glasgow. The Achesons lived at 51 Carrickblacker Rd, Portadown, Co Armagh. Anne Acheson was educated at Victoria College, Belfast, the Belfast School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London where she studied sculpture under Édouard Lantéri.

Acheson first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1913, when her sculpture The Pixie was accepted. Over the next four decades, 30 of her sculptures were featured in 22 exhibitions at the Academy.

During the First World War she volunteered with the Surgical Requisites Association, which supplied medical dressings and had been created by Queen Mary's Needlework Guild. Acheson and Elinor Hallé were both sculptors When she completed her studies, Acheson taught at a school in London and continued to live in that city.

She was the first woman, in 1938, to be elected a fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

Acheson retrained as a precision engineer and draftswoman during the Second World War to enable her to carry out further voluntary work. She also worked for the Red Cross during the conflict.

After the war Acheson continued as an artist practicing in Northern Ireland.

Works

Dates for works refer to when they were first exhibited. The Pixie (1910) The Leprechaun (1914) Echo Mocking (1914) Sally (circa 1923) The Imp (1924) Trio (1924 presumed) Lead Mask for Garden Decoration (1924 presumed) The Gossamer Thread (1924 presumed) Tangle (Pewter Statuette) (1926) Mischief (1927) Flora M'Flimsy (1927) Gertrude Bell (bust for Gertrude Bell Memorial) (circa 1926–1929) Harriet Emily (Lead Garden Figure) (1930) Harriet Glasgow Acheson, Bronze Medallion (1934) Barbara (Glazed Pottery) (1936) Saint Brigit (Glazed Pottery) (1936) Mother and Child (Glazed Pottery) (1936) Harriet Emily (1938) Fountain figure (circa 1944) The Sacred Bull (1948) Virginia (1949) Squirrel (1950, presumed) River Nymph (Walnut Wood) (1950)