Local teacher became Queen for just one day

An iconic piece of 20th-century design known around the world, the Potteries-born Arnold Machin's profile portrait of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II which featured on British definitive postage stamps from 1967, is still the most reproduced, widely distributed and recognisable work of art in history.

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Born in 1911, Machin served an apprenticeship as a china painter at Minton Pottery and learnt to sculpt at Stoke School of Art before going on to study at the Royal College of Art.

He subsequently became Wedgwood’s first full-time figure modeller at its Barlaston factory in 1940 where he mastered the technique of bas-relief artisanal decorating.

Renowned as an eminent designer and accomplished sculptor, Machin was asked to create a new portrait of the Queen in 1964 for the soon-to-be launched decimal coinage and a similar effigy of her to be used on a series of postage stamps.

Initially, the bas-relief clay cameo of the Queen’s head was rejected before the classic silhouette bust showing Her Majesty from the shoulders up wearing a diadem and pearl necklace finally received the Monarch’s approval.

Despite Machin’s lasting legacy, the intriguing story of how a young Trentham school teacher became the ‘Queen for a day’ without knowing it and featured on this revered image has been rarely told.