Miss Freda N. Skinner

Born 31 January 1911
Died 19 July 1993

Active: 1928 - 1967

Country of birth and death: England

Sculptor, wood carver, letter cutter

Born in Limpsfield, Surrey. She began studying at the Royal College of Art c.1928 supported by neighbours from Limpsfield, including Arthur Rackham (author and illustrator), Louis Fry (painter) Sybil Pye (bookbinder) and her sister, the sculptor, Ethel Pye. Freda studied under Henry Moore and Alan Durst (who taught her wood carving).

In the early 1940s she taught toy making and sculpture at Kingston School of Art. Afterwards running a team of twenty ATS girls and women volunteers creating landscape maps in relief constructed in hessian, which illustrated where vehicles could be parked safe from observation. Between 1945-71 she was Head of Sculpture at Wimbledon School of Art, where her students included William Pye.

Amongst her numerous commissions were a war memorial at Battersea Parish Church (1948), 'The Risen Christ in Glory', St Paul's Church, Lorrimore Square, Southwark (1960) and the 'Virgin and Child', Lady Chapel, St Elphege's Church, Wallington (1972). Her later works included the foundation stone for the Barbican Art Centre (1972) and the Plaque and Coat of Arms for the foyer (1982). She also created many portrait busts and heads, numerous garden sculptures and was a highly regarded letter cutter. In 1961 she published a manual on 'Wood Carving' which became a standard work. Although primarily known for her work in wood, she also experimented with other materials such as stoneware, ciment fondue and fibreglass.

She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and a committee member of the Society of Portrait Sculptors. She died in West Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Citing this record

'Miss Freda N. Skinner', 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=msib2_1210260572, accessed 19 Sep 2021]