Ursula Edgcumbe facts for kids

Ursula Ulalia Edgcumbe (born in 1900, died February 8, 1985) was a talented artist from Britain. She was known for making sculptures and paintings. When she made sculptures, she used materials like stone, wood, and bronze. Later, she focused on painting, often creating pictures of birds and groups of people.

Ursula Edgcumbe's Early Life and Training

Zennor War Memorial, Cornwall

Ursula Edgcumbe was born in a town called Sandy, located in Bedfordshire, England. Her father, Sir Robert Pearce-Edgcumbe, was a lawyer and a local politician. This means he worked with laws and helped manage the area where they lived.

When Ursula was a teenager, she started working in the art studio of a sculptor named James Havard Thomas. A sculptor is an artist who creates three-dimensional artworks. Later, she went to the Slade School of Art. This was a famous art school where James Havard Thomas also taught.

Ursula studied at the Slade School of Art from 1916 to 1921. She was very good at sculpture. In 1918, she even won a special scholarship prize for her sculpture work.

Her Work as a Sculptor

After art school, Ursula Edgcumbe became an architectural carver. This means she carved designs into buildings. She often worked with an architect named George L Kennedy. An architect is someone who designs buildings.

One of her first big projects was for the war memorial in Zennor, Cornwall. A war memorial is a monument built to remember people who died in wars. Ursula used local granite stone for this project. She created a carved design, called a frieze, which sat on top of a column designed by Kennedy.

She also carved a fireplace frieze for a place called Bilbury Court in Gloucestershire. A frieze is a long, narrow band of sculpture or painting that decorates a building.

From Sculpture to Painting

Throughout her career, Ursula Edgcumbe showed her art in many exhibitions. She exhibited with groups like the London Group and the Royal Society of British Artists. In 1929, she even helped start a new art group called the National Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and Potters.

Her first solo show, where only her sculptures were displayed, happened in April 1936 at the Leger Galleries. However, in 1940, she stopped making sculptures and started focusing on painting instead.

After World War II ended, Ursula Edgcumbe spent most of her time painting. She often painted birds and scenes from factories or industrial areas. She had several solo exhibitions of her paintings in important galleries in London. After she passed away, a special exhibition of her paintings and sculptures was held in 1986 at the Gillian Jason Gallery to remember her work.