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Festival of Britain 1951

Poster
1951 (issued)
Artist/Maker
H. M. Stationery Office (issuer)
Nicholls, Denys Arthur (designer)
Games, Abram (designer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (issued)

Colour poster featuring a drawing of Great Britain with the Festival Star logo suspended above the heart of the country. 'Festival of Britain' lettered across the top in blue and '1951' below in red and white.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Advertising
Entertainment & Leisure
Posters
Object type
Poster
TitleFestival of Britain 1951 (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour offset lithograph
Lithographic Ink
Offset Lithography
Brief description
'Festival of Britain 1951'. Colour offset lithograph promotional poster featuring a drawing of Great Britain with the Festival Star logo suspended above the heart of the country. Designed by Denys Arthur Nicholls and issued by His Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain, 1951.
Physical description
Colour poster featuring a drawing of Great Britain with the Festival Star logo suspended above the heart of the country. 'Festival of Britain' lettered across the top in blue and '1951' below in red and white.
Dimensions
  • Height: 76.2cm
  • Width: 50.2cm
Measurements taken from: Summary Catalogue of British Posters to 1988 in the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Department of Design, Prints & Drawing. Emmett Publishing, 1990. 129 p. ISBN: 1 869934 12 1
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Festival of Britain' (Lettered across the top of the design)
  • '1951' (Lettered across the bottom of the design)
Historical context
The Festival Star is the graphic symbol designed by Abram Games for the 1951 Festival of Britain. The logo uses the traditional red, white and blue colours of the Union Flag and the main device incorporates a profile of Britannia's head, with crested helmet, on the 'north' point of a four-pointed compass rose.
Subjects depicted
Britain
Compass Roses
Britannia
Bibliographic references
  • Summary Catalogue of British Posters to 1988 in the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Department of Design, Prints & Drawing. Emmett Publishing, 1990. 129 p. ISBN: 1 869934 12 1
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1952. London: HMSO, 1963.
Other number
28/F11 - V&A microfiche
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1885-1952

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O591861/festival-of-britain-1951-poster-nicholls-denys-arthur/
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