Miss Edith Elizabeth Downing
Born 1857 (Presumed)
Died 3 October 1931
Active: 1891 - 1910
Country of birth and death: Wales
Sculptor, suffragette
Born in Cardiff, Glamorgan and baptised on 26 January 1857 (the birth was registered in January so it is possible she was born in December 1856). Edith was the daughter of Edward Coenty Downing (c.1816-86, born in Falmouth, Cornwall) a coal merchant and shipping agent. She studied at South Kensington School of Art under Lanteri and then at the Slade (1892-3). Downing was a member of the Womens Social and Political Union and friends with Sylvia Pankhurst and Marion Wallace-Dunlop. Her works included statuettes of Sylvia Pankhurst and Annie Kenney. Edith was imprisoned for her suffragette activities and was force fed. There is a photograph of Edith Downing at work on a portrait bust in the collections of the Museum of London (Production Date: 1909-1914 ID no: 53.140/78. This image is available for viewing online on the Museum of London website, August 2016).
Wealth at death: £1,149 18s. 9d.
Probate date: 30 November 1931
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
The Prophet
1896 (Presumed)
£10 10s.
St Margaret
1897 (Presumed)
£10
Miss Ellen Sparks
1897 (Presumed)
Music sent up to God
1898 (Presumed)
£42
Locations
Address 24 Wordsworth Street Roath Cardiff | View on map
1881 (Circa)
Address 11 Oakley Flats Oakley Street London | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Address 40 Rossetti Mansions Chelsea London | View on map
1893 - 1897
Address 30 Tite Street Chelsea London | View on map
1896 (Circa) - 1910 (Circa)
Address Robins Rough Peaslake | View on map
1931
She died while resident at this address.
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Arts & Crafts Exhibition, 1900
'Panel'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1908
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1891 - 1910
Exhibited 8 times, one work each year.
Exhibited at South Wales Art Society 9th Annual Exhibition, 1896
1896
Exhibited at South Wales Art Society 10th Annual Exhibition of Pictures, 1897
1897
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1897
1897
Music sent up to God (cat. no. 1283, bust, £36).
Exhibited at South Wales Art Society 11th Annual Exhibition, 1898
3 October 1898 - 26 November 1898
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1902
1902
Music sent up to God (cat. no. 1494, bronze bust, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-third (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1903
1903
Mrs Gwendolen Bishop (cat. no. 1400, bust, not for sale).
Institutional and Business Connections
Member of Women Handicraft Workers, Hitchin
Member of The South Wales Art Society
1896 - 1900
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
None
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Art Student' and living on own means
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor' living on own means and working at home
Sources
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh, 1897 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1897
pp. 44-47.
Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second, 1902 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1902
pp. 42-47.
Catalogue of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition 1900
1900
Cat. No. 22, p. 18
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1908
1908
Cat. No. 369, 485, pp. 34, 43, 77
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Class: RG10; Piece: 5357; Folio: 19; Page: 31; GSU roll: 848450
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 5284; Folio: 119; Page: 6; Line: ; GSU roll: 1342271
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 64; Folio 47; Page 19; GSU roll: 6095174
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
Class: RG13; Piece: 77; Folio: 190; Page: 43
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Edith Elizabeth Downing
Registration Year: 1857
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district: Cardiff
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Glamorgan
Volume: 11a
Page: 231
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Edith Elizabeth Downing
Death Date: 3 Oct 1931
Death Place: Surrey, England
Probate Date: 30 Nov 1931
Registry: London, England
South Wales Art Society 10th Annual Exhibition Catalogue.
1897
South Wales Art Society 11th Annual Exhibition of pictures.
1898
South Wales Art Society 13th Annual Exhibition Catalogue
1900
South Wales Art Society catalogue for 9th Annual Exhibition of pictures.
1896
The women's suffrage movement: a reference guide, 1866-1928
2001
pp. 108, 171-2
Wales, Select Births and Baptisms, 1541-1907
2014
Name: Edith Elizabeth Downing
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 26 Jan 1857
Baptism Place: Saint John, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
Father: Edward Coenty Downing
Mother: Mary Ann Sarah
FHL Film Number: 104857, 104858
Citing this record
'Miss Edith Elizabeth Downing', 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_1204301683, accessed 23 Mar 2023]
