On 18 July 2006
Royal Mail is issuing ten unique stamps to showcase some of the most loved and memorable portraits from The National Portrait Gallery in its 150th year. The stamps are available in a range of products including a commemorative Presentation Pack.
The National Portrait Gallery houses an immense collection of portraits featuring some of Britain’s most significant subjects. With 9,000 portraits of famous men and women and boasting a phenomenal archive, library and technology gallery the NPG acts as a pictorial ‘Who’s Who’ of British history.
The images selected for the stamps are drawn from a full historical time span, and 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, watercolour, oil painting and photography.
Royal Mail’s design team worked closely with the NPG 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.
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.
To keep the labelling as simple and uncluttered as possible, the stamp features the name of the subject and the name of the gallery.
