Arnold Machin's portrait of The Queen on display at the Wedgwood Visitor Centre

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The BPMA is delighted to present the exhibition Timeless & Classic: Elizabeth, Queen & Icon at the Wedgwood Visitor Centre.

This exhibition celebrates Arnold Machin's portrait of The Queen, which has now been reproduced more than 200 billion times on stamps, and is open from 19 January to 24 December 2008.

Background to the exhibition

This exhibition was adapted from the acclaimed 40th anniversary exhibition of the same name at the Royal College of Art in 2007. A smaller Machin display at The Royal Mail Archive remains open until April 2008.

Arnold Machin was born in Stoke-on-Trent and during his career he worked as a designer for Wedgwood. The BPMA and Wedgwood Visitor Centre are pleased to bring this exhibition - featuring new material - to Machin's hometime.

History of the Machin head

Image of the Machin portrait of The QueenArnold Machin (1911-1999) first produced an effigy of The Queen for the new decimal coinage in the early 1960s, which John Betjeman claimed "made her look a bit sexy". The Queen approved the final effigy in 1964 and this appeared in British coins from 1968 onwards.

In 1965 Machin was asked with four other artists to submit "renderings" of The Queen's head for a new stamp. Machin beat the competition and produced the final portrait of The Queen - a plaster cast which takes centre stage in the Wedgwood exhibition. 

In 1964 the then Postmaster General Tony Benn commissioned the artist David Gentleman to produce stamp designs with and without The Queen's head on them. This resulted in a revolution in stamp design. Gentleman produced various unadopted designs (featured in the exhibition) and this prompted the production of Machin's plaster cast.

Visiting information

Timeless & Classic: Elizabeth, Queen & Icon will be in the reception area of the Wedgwood Visitor Centre and is free to view.

The Wedgwood Visitor Centre is located at Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent ST12 9ES.

Opening hours:

Weekdays 9am - 5pm

Weekends 10am - 5pm

Admission to Wedgwood Visitor Centre:

Weekdays £8.25 adults, £6.25 concessions

Weekends and Friday afternoons £6.25 adults, £4.25 concessions


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