Mrs Ernestine Mills

Other names: nee Bell

Born 1871
Died 6 February 1959

Active: 1900 - 1952

Country of birth and death: England

Sculptor, art metal worker, enamellist, jeweller

Born at Hastings, Kent. Died in London. She studied at the Slade, Finsbury Central Technical School and South Kensington School of Art. She served as an apprentice to the pre-Raphaelite painter, Frederic Shields (1833–1911). In 1907 she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and by July 1909 was also a member of the Fabian Women's Group. Although not a member of the artists' suffragette societies, she made various works for the cause, including possibly some enamel badges as well as making works to be sold on behalf of the WSPU. In 1950 she was commissioned to make a plaque for the Suffragette Fellowship to commemorate the Brackenbury sisters (Museum of London).

There is further information about Mills contained in 'New Dawn Women' by V. Irene Cockroft, published by Watts Gallery in 2005, ISBN 0-9548230-2-8; and 'Art, Theatre & Women's Suffrage' by V. Irene Cockroft and Susan Croft, published by Aurora Metro Press 2010, ISBN 978-1-906582-08-1.

Citing this record

'Mrs Ernestine Mills', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib1_1203677013, accessed 05 Jun 2023]