The one name which symbolises the first decade of the Queen’s reign is Dorothy Wilding. For it is the portraits made by this famous photographer which dominate the definitives of the 1950s. For those reluctant to say goodbye to the period of King George VI, many transitional definitives were issued when Queen Elizabeth II first took to the throne. These consist of King George VI designs with only his head replaced by a Wilding portrait of his daughter.
An example of these reignstraddling designs could be found in the Leeward Islands, where the only Elizabethan set was issued in 1954 – the colony’s last stamps before it was dissolved. The basic frame design, now including a full profile head of the Queen, had been in use since the first stamps were issued in the colony in 1890. The rather straightforward set also includes the well-known Scroll type high values, introduced in the reign of King George V.
St Lucia and the Malaysian state of Malacca also used the profile head in their frame designs which stemmed from the 1930s. These are also rather straightforward sets with just a few shades to collect. The same goes for Hong Kong, but that frame design dated back to the 1860s, in Queen Victoria’s reign.
Australia, too, went for a Wilding profile head but a different one, with Queen Elizabeth wearing a diamond diadem. This original design was very successful, and it is surprising that this charming stamp was replaced so promptly. Introduced in 1953, it was soon in competition with a second set, based upon a bas-relief of the Queen by WL Bowles against differently shaded backgrounds. Both sets offer a modest scope for specialising, with different papers, booklets and coils to collect, as well as a major variety in the second set, in the form of a double print of the 7½d.
The higher values of this second set were also issued in Christmas Island. What looks to be a simple overprint on existing Australian designs is actually a purpose-made stamp design for the Indian Ocean territory. Slight shifts of the black print show this clearly, especially near the circled value.
Australia’s third set was not long in the waiting either, and appeared as soon as 1959. It consisted of six low value stamps, in six different designs. A motley collection of portraits, made by Baron Studios, the set may not be the most pleasing to the eye, but it has the attraction of different dies being used for the 4d and 5d values. The set was still in use when Australia’s so-called Helecon paper was introduced and some values were reprinted on this
