National Portrait Gallery

Famous people on stamps

Royal Mail surprised stamp collectors in July 2006 with a nice collection of ten stamps, portraying famous British men and women. De La Rue Security Print printed the stamps designed by Peter Willberg in gravure.

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery houses an immense collection of portraits featuring some of Britain's most significant subjects. With thousands portraits of famous men and women and an extensive archive, library and technology gallery the Portrait Galery acts as a pictorial 'Who's Who' of British history.

Historical time span

The images selected for the stamps are drawn from a full historical time span. The stamps show a balance of people from different areas of life including a politician, a writer and an artist. The stamps also show the wide variety of different media that are exhibited in the gallery such as portraits in sculpture, watercolor, oil painting and photography.

Selection

Royal Mail's design team worked closely with the National Portrait Gallery to establish a final shortlist which was passed on to designer Peter Willberg, who has previously worked on the 2005 Jane Eyre issue featuring Paula Rego's haunting lithographs.

Some highlights

Included in the stamp issue is the most famous image of William Shakespeare, which has a special significance, as it was the first portrait the Gallery acquired. Also featured are less well known images, such as the charming portrait of Marry Anne Seacole and the rare oil painting of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Stamps in detail

Issue: Great Britain: 18 July 2006
Design: Peter Willberg
Stamp Size: 27mm x 37mm
Printer: De La Rue Security Print
Print Process: Gravure
Perforations: 14 x 14

More information

Stamps Great Britain
Modern architecture
Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday
Brunel
Battle of Trafalgar

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