Photograph by Dorothy Wilding; hand coloured by Beatrice Johnson, 1952. Signed.
This portrait, by Dorothy Wilding, was taken of Queen Elizabeth II 20 days after her coronation. 59 portraits were taken, the purpose being for currency and stamps. This particular image was selected in black and white to be sent to every diplomatic post around the world. A very few were also hand coloured in Dorothy Wilding’s studio by the artist Beatrice Johnson.
We are pretty lucky to have found one of those. Dorothy Wilding was heralded as a celebrity photographer, chosen to photograph not only the queen but her father King George VI and the Queen Mother. Another example held in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
