December is a typical example of the lead garden sculptures made by the Northern Irish artist Anne Acheson.
The figure of a child holding a lamp is intended as a personification of the winter solstice. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1929.
Acheson was born in Portadown, County Armagh, in 1882. She studied at the Belfast School of Art and at the Royal College of Art in London. Her first notable work of sculpture, The Pixie, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1913.
In 1915 Acheson volunteered to help develop medical equipment for soldiers injured in the First World War. Together with fellow sculptor Elinor Hallé, she invented the technique of supporting broken limbs with plaster casts.
December now joins the collection of Craigavon Museum Services at Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, the museum for local history near to Acheson’s birthplace.
More information
Title of artwork, date
December, 1929
Date supported
2019
Medium and material
Lead
Dimensions
78 x 33 x 25
Grant
2500
Total cost
3565
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