Photograph
02/06/1953 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Photograph depicting Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Beaton, and two photographic assistants amid the studio lights and camera equipment. Coronation Day, Buckingham Palace, 02/06/1953. Queen Elizabeth is seen seated in the background, crowned and holding the orb and sceptre. A painted backdrop evokes the interior of Westminster Abbey, while the surrounding interior with patterned curtains and wall-mounted candlesticks reveal the setting of the photographs at Buckingham Palace. In the foreground, a series of lights and cables are in silhouette. Beaton is seen from the back, wearing formal dress, leaning over his camera (a Rolliflex) to take his photograph.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | photography |
| Brief description | Photograph by Patrick Matthews. Depicting Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Beaton, and two photographic assistants amid the studio lights and camera equipment. Coronation Day, Buckingham Palace, 02/06/1953. |
| Physical description | Photograph depicting Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Beaton, and two photographic assistants amid the studio lights and camera equipment. Coronation Day, Buckingham Palace, 02/06/1953. Queen Elizabeth is seen seated in the background, crowned and holding the orb and sceptre. A painted backdrop evokes the interior of Westminster Abbey, while the surrounding interior with patterned curtains and wall-mounted candlesticks reveal the setting of the photographs at Buckingham Palace. In the foreground, a series of lights and cables are in silhouette. Beaton is seen from the back, wearing formal dress, leaning over his camera (a Rolliflex) to take his photograph. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Patrick Matthews (1914–1996)
The Coronation Day Sitting
2 June 1953
For the Coronation sitting Beaton employed the help of his friend Patrick Matthews, the experienced managing director of Vogue Studios, who arranged a team of technicians and electricians. Even Beaton’s younger sister Baba was enlisted ‘to help arrange the trains’. These photographs snapped by Matthews show assistants John Drysdale and Ray Harwood amid studio lights and tripods, poised to adjust a lamp or reload a camera.
Gelatin silver prints
Ph.653-1987; Ph.1802-1987
(2012) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed to the Museum in 1987 by Eileen Hose, secretary to the photographer |
| Production | Patrick Matthews worked alongside Cecil Beaton to photograph Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family on Coronation Day, 02/06/1953. Cecil Beaton photographed members of the royal family from 1930-1979. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | PH.653-1987 |
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| Record created | June 8, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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