Mary Gaskell Gillick ( Tutin; 1881 – 27 January 1965) was a sculptor and medallist, best known for her effigy of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

used on coinage in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and elsewhere from 1953 to 1970.

Personal life

Born Mary Gaskell Tutin in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, she was one of three children born to Thomas Tutin and Elizabeth Gaskell ( Ardern), who wed on 25 March 1880 in Knutsford, Cheshire. She was educated at the Nottingham School of Art (1898–1902) and at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

(1902–1904), where she studied under the sculptor

Édouard Lantéri Édouard Lantéri (31 October 1848 – 22 December 1917) was a French-born British sculptor and medallist whose romantic French style of sculpting was seen as influential among exponents of New Sculpture. His name is also frequently spelle ...

. After making her first exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1911, she designed several

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s to be used as awards, and several other, larger relief sculptures in

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and bronze. In 1905, she married sculptor

Ernest Gillick Ernest George Gillick (19 November 1874 – 25 September 1951) was a British sculptor. Life Gillick was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on 19 November 1874, the son of a tailor. The family moved to Nottingham, where Gillick was apprenticed as a d ...

Honours

She was appointed OBE in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The re ...

Effigy of Elizabeth II

In 1952, Gillick's effigy design was selected from a field of seventeen to be used on general-circulation coinage for the new Queen Elizabeth, first issued in 1953. Gillick worked on the portrait between March and October 1952, with one sitting and close supervision by the Duke of Edinburgh. Gillick's design was notable for portraying the Queen uncrowned, and was the last to be used on the pre-decimal coinage. Gillick's die master had insufficient relief, and the striking was too weak. Facial features and the dress folds in the shoulder disappeared. The problem was solved by re-cutting the dies. This remastering was performed by Cecil Thomas, an experienced medallist who had already crafted overseas currencies featuring Elizabeth II, but who had initially been turned down for the British coinage in preference to Gillick.Thomas, Cecil Walter (1885–1976), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept 2004 A cameo of Gillick's effigy of the Queen has been used on British commemorative stamps since 1966. The original effigy was used for Maundy money until the Queen's death in 2022.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillick, Mary 1881 births 1961 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists Alumni of Nottingham School of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from Nottingham Coin designers British currency designers English women sculptors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Women graphic designers