Mary Gillick: Modelling The Queen’s Portrait

Nice little exhibition at the British Museum looking at sculptor Mary Gillick’s design for the Queen’s head for the coinage on her accession.

This was a lovely way for the museum to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It outlined how Gillick based the image on Renaissance models which giving it a modern spin. The image continued to be used until the 1990s and I’d never noticed that the Queen is shown in a laurel wreath with a ribbon. It talked about Gillick worked the plaster image and the Royal Mint reduced it in size mechanically .

The show also included other work by Gillick including medals of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the death of her niece the family gave her medals and plaster models to the British Museum and the Henry Moore Institute.

Closed 31 July 2023

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