Elizabeth II Coronation - Helen McKie Original Artwork, 1953

Each: 54cm (21.7in) x 41cm (16in) Watercolour on board. A set of four original watercolour drawings by Helen McKie for Country Life’s coronation edition, June 1953. No. 1, depicting the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England in coronation robes; the Crown Equerry Colonel Sir Dermot McMorrough-Cavanagh, 11th Hussars; Garter Principal King of Arms, Hon. Sir George Bellew; a Queen’s Page of Honour. No. 2, an Ensign, Queen’s Bodyguard of the Yeoman of the Guard; State Trumpeter, Gentlemen-at-Arms, Officer, King’s Troop, RHA, and a Yeoman of the Guard. No.3, the Queen’s Barge Master, Royal Footmen and a Queen’s Waterman. No. 4, Coachman and Postillion. Framed and glazed. Read more ~section 2~ Helen Madeleine McKie (1889-1957) was a well known illustrator and dust-jacket artist whose output came to prominence in the First World War. She trained at the Lambeth School of Art and worked for a short while in Russia and France for British newspapers. In 1915 she joined the permanent staff of the Bystander magazine, where she remained until 1929. She kept a studio at 8 Jubilee Place, Chelsea, and by the time Queen Mary had purchased one of her pictures in 1928 she had become one of the most popular artists of the period. In 1931 she visited Germany and was invited to sketch Hitler and the NDSAP’s new Munich headquarters. In 1943 she was given the opportunity to ‘square the circle’ by painting The Upper War Room at the Admiralty for presentation to Sir Winston Churchill. After the Second World War, she undertook work for the Southern Railway, including the well-known posters Waterloo Station – War and Waterloo Station – Peace. She also designed murals for the Ritz Hotel, the Ford factory at Dagenham, and Selfridge’s Department store. Her archive survives in the Victoria and Albert Museum.