Mabel Smith

Other names: probably Edith Mabel Smith, known as Mabel, later Mabel Skevington

Born 4 February 1900 (Probable)
Died 1978 (Probable)

Active: 1932

Country of birth and death: England

Sculptor

This is probably (Edith) Mabel Smith who was born in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, to Frank Ernest Smith, a boot maker, and Ada Charlotte Sanders. Mabel went by her middle name throughout her life, and was recorded in the 1911 Census Returns under that name rather than her given name of Edith.

The family had moved to Reading by 1911. Mabel is thought to have attended art school in that city although the dates of her studies are not yet known. Mabel probably met her future husband, Harold Ree Skevington, at Reading as this is where he studied Horticulture. They were married in Langport, Somerset in 1930.

Mabel and her family lived at Apperley Bridge, between Leeds and Bradford, from about 1930 until sometime in the 1950s. After this they moved to Devizes, Wiltshire, where Mabel lived until she died in 1978.

She continued sculpting throughout her life, though not, as far as the family is aware, selling the works that she made. A number of sculptures by Smith, including a bronze statuette of St. Francis (thought to be the work shown in Leeds in 1932), a portrait bust, and animal subjects remain in the family's ownership.

Previously this record was tentatively attributed to Eveline Mabel Smith, fellow student and wife of Percy Metcalfe (m. 1920) but it seems more probable based on information submitted by Hannah Stockton that it relates to Mabel Smith (Skevington).

Citing this record

'Mabel Smith', 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=msib5_1213813617, accessed 10 Jun 2023]