Castle series stamps

Because comments in the philatelic press were negative about the two pictorial stamps, the Postal Services Department proposed to replace the pictures with two new allegorical images.

But its director decided the artists invited by the Council of Industrial Design must be free in the proposal they had to submit at the beginning of 1953.

[2] Inspired by Mary Ashead's projects using non allegorical images, including castles, they let some artists and printers Waterlow and Sons create propositions with views of British monuments, known to the public and linked to Royal Family history.

The proposed green colour for the 2s 6d stamp was changed to brown: the goal was to avoid evocations of Irish nationalist sentiment.

Bard, an engraver at Waterlow and Sons, prepared the royal effigy reproducing Dorothy Wilding's photographic portrait already used on the definitive series.

[4] In January 1954, Lynton Lamb's scenery, known as "broken grotto", was chosen:[5] the castle is in the reader's sight through a hole in an old stone wall, next to which is standing the Queen's portrait.

Under the guidance and requirements of officials, Lamb continued his work on the drawings of the castles during 1954, visiting in person Edinburgh and Windsor.

[12] On 18 October 1988, the four large-format high value Machin stamps, printed in photogravure and issued since February 1977, were replaced by a new Castle series.

The broken grotto design was replaced by a white background, and was considered austere compared to the romantic approach of Lyndon Lamb.

An elliptical perforation was added to the sides, and Optically Variable Ink (OVI), which appears green or gold depending on how it is viewed, was used to print the Queen's profile.

[15] On 9 March 1999, the second Castle series was replaced by four Machin stamps printed in intaglio from a gravure by Czesław Słania.