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22 CHURCHILL, Winston S. Photographic portrait signed. London: Elliott & Fry [c.1914] the dynamic young statesman A fine early signed portrait captured by the celebrated Elliott & Fry studio, showing Churchill, half-length, wearing medals, in the uniform of a Privy Councillor, projecting a double image: Churchill as decorated soldier and as one of the monarch’s inner circle of trusted advisors. “The iconography of Churchill owed much to his awareness of the importance of imagery in politics and his image was no less important in establishing his fame than his speeches” ( ODNB ). Churchill had been sworn of the Privy Council in 1907 and was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in October 1911. During the First World War his image appeared on a welter of ephemera, including scarves, handkerchiefs, and ceramics. This particular portrait was used memorably on a patriotic postcard, showing Churchill framed by a lifebuoy, above an image of a Royal Navy battleship under full steam with the motto “Aye Ready!”; it is reproduced in Geoffrey Best’s Churchill and War (Bloomsbury, 2006). Signed in full by Churchill below the image, “Winston S. Churchill”. Vintage silver gelatin print (image 147 × 106 mm), mounted on a pale brown sheet, tipped to mount card; framed and glazed, overall 365 × 290 mm.
Some silvering of image, largely affecting Churchill’s hair; otherwise in excellent condition. £8,750 [152025] 23 CHURCHILL, Winston S. Photographic portrait inscribed. London: Vivienne, 20th Century Studios, [1951] the battle-scarred elder statesman An imposing portrait taken during Churchill’s second term as prime minister, inscribed by him on the mount “To James Dunn from his friend of many years, Winston S. Churchill”. Dunn (1874–1956) was a Canadian industrialist and financier, who worked with Churchill during the First World War when he helped supply nickel from Norway. He was a man of great wealth and many eccentricities, such as having his shoelaces ironed, and commissioned 13 different portraits of himself, including one by Salvador Dalí. The photographer Florence Vivienne Mellish, known simply as Vivienne, was one of the leading society photographers of the mid-20th century; she took Churchill’s portrait many times. Her son Antony married Churchill’s daughter Sarah in 1949. “Unfortunately Churchill and his wife learned of the marriage, which took place in the United States, from the newspapers,
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