Archibald McFarlane Shannan was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 28 May 1850 and was the son of Peter Shannon (1815-1890) a local builder with whom he was apprentice. Having completed his apprenticeship, he joined his father's business and worked on building projects abroad including the building of a sanatoria in Cameroon, Africa, and state buildings in Texas. Following his return to Britain he decided to pursue a career as a sculptor. In 1884 he moved to London and attended the National Art School in South Kensington. He then studied for a further eight years in Paris. He returned to Glasgow in 1894 and established a studio. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh; the Aberdeen Artists' Society; Belfast Art Society; Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Leeds City Art Gallery; the International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers and Royal Academy of Art in London; and at the Paris Salon.