Jessie Lipscomb

Jessie Lipscomb was an English sculptress who worked primarily in the late 19th and early 20th century. From an era when women were usually considered too dainty to wield chisel and hammer or slap clay onto an armature, Jessie defied convention. After distinguishing herself at the (now) Royal College of Art in England, in 1884 she went to France where she lodged with the Claudel family. The Claudel's younger daughter, Camille, was also a sculptress and had even set up her own studio. Soon Camille and Jessie came to the attention of Auguste Rodin, the most august - no pun intended - sculptor in France and became his students and assistants.

Jessie studied with Rodin for two years. After returning to England she married William Elborne, began raising a family, and to use an old cliché, lived happily ever after. Contrast that with the life of Camille who in addition to creating many sculptures that are now considered to rival that of Auguste, lived alone in her studio where she created statues which she smashed with a sledgehammer, met one of her hired models holding a cudgel studded with nails, and sent an envelope stuffed with cat poop to a minister of the French government. In 1913 her family committed her to a mental institution where she remained until she died 30 years later. If you're interested in learning more, there are available biographies of Auguste, Camille, or both, and in the reading you can learn a bit about Jessie too. But if that's too much trouble and you don't want to learn too much, you can click here.

After her marriage, Jessie never entirely abandoned art, but being a mom in Victorian and Edwardian England occupied much of her time. Some of her sculptures have survived, mostly in private collections. She died at age 90 on January 12, 1952, an interesting enough date.