December 2016 The Portfolio Issue 2 SPM02 Signed A small selection of our finest autographed items - from actors, comedians and writers to explorers, war heroes and scientists Luciano Pavarotti was an Italian opera singer known for his tenor voice. Perhaps the most famous tenor of all time, and certainly one of the most successful, Pavarotti became associated with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, who together became known as The Three Tenors. Already having had a long career, international stardom came for Pavarotti when his rendition of Nessun Dorma was used as the theme song for the BBC’s coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Although involved in a tax scandal late in his life, Pavarotti was also known for his charity work, particularly in aid of refugees and the Red Cross. SGB126C £500 American Cinema cover, signed by Beatrice Arthur, Dorothy Loudon, Lynn Redgrave, Betsy Palmer, Hermione Gingold, Constance Cummings, Jessica Tandy, Gloria Swanson, Irene Dunne and Lucille Ball . SGP029A £175 Luciano Pavarotti, signed cover, our choice, the great Tenor SGS021D £100 Harry Secombe, signed 1990 Christmas cover. Harry Secombe was a British comedian and singer who played Neddie Seagoon on the radio series The Good Show. He served in North Africa during WWII where he met Spike Milligan with whom he later collaborated. In 1982 Secombe visited the Falkland Islands to entertain troops, which resulted in his old regiment promoting him to the rank of sergeant 37 years after he’d left the army. ROY12N £495 Princess Margaret, signed 1980 Queen Mother cover Princess Margaret Rose, Countess of Snowdon, CI, GCVO, GCStJ often known SGL034B £200 Dads Army, 30th Anniversary cover signed by the simply as Princess Margaret, was the younger daughter of King George VI and two writers and five of the cast Queen Elizabeth, and the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret was often Dad’s Army cover, signed by five cast and two writers: Bill Pertwee viewed as a controversial member of the royal family. Her health gradually (Warden Hodges), Clive Dunn (Lance Corporal Jones), Ian Lavender deteriorated in the final two decades of her life. A heavy smoker for most of her (Private Pike), Pamela Cundell (Mrs Fox / Mrs Jones), Frank Williams adult life, she had at least three strokes between 1998 and 2001. She died at King (The Vicar), Jimmy Perry and David Croft (script writers). This is a Edward VII Hospital on 9 February 2002. fantastic item, with a great Dad’s Army design and postmark and an excellent selection of signatures. Warren House, Shearway Road, Folkestone, Kent Ct19 4BF Tel 01303 278137 Fax 01303 279429 Email [email protected] MILTARY COMMANDERS Matthew Ridgway (1895-1993) served in WWII and the Korean War. During his long career he became Supreme Allied Commander for Europe and eventually Chief of Staff for the United States Army. General Omar Bradley described Ridgway’s efforts in the Korean War as ‘the greatest feat of personal leadership in the history of the Army’. William Westmoreland (1914-2005) commanded US military operations in Vietnam and served as US Army Chief of Staff after that. As Chief of Staff he oversaw one of the most difficult periods of US military history when it transitioned to an all-volunteer force. Colin Powell (1937-present) is a retired four-star general of the US Army who became the first ever African American to serve as United States Secretary of State. Jimmy Doolittle (1896-1993) was an American aviation pioneer who served in the United States Air Force and was awarded the full rank of General after his formal retirement. He was SGG064 £200 American Generals Ridgeway, Westmorland, awarded the Medal of Honour for his leadership of the Doolittle Raid in WWII. Powell, Doolittle Field Marshal Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British aristocrat and military officer. He was best known for his calm manner and patience, two features of Alexander which US Army General Omar Bradley said allowed the inexperienced US field command of WWII that worked alongside him ‘to mature and eventually come of age’. Alexander served in both World Wars, rising through the ranks until his appointment as Field Marshal and Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean during WWII. Alexander was made Governor General of Canada by George VI, eventually being given permission to exercise all the powers of the monarch within the country. In 1952 he was recalled from Canada by Churchill to be appointed Minister of Defence for Britain, a position in which he served until his retirement in 1954. He passed away in 1969 at the age of 77. SGL062 £250 Lt General Oliver Leese, signed Allied Forces SGT032E £175 Alexander of Tunis signed piece South East Asia ‘At Home’ programme from 10th May 1945 Oliver Leese was a British General during WWII. He had previously served in WWI and was awarded a DSO for actions at the Somme. Controversy later in the war led to his promotion to full General being blocked, many believe by Mountbatten, and his resignation in 1947. He went on to become a noted horticulturalist. RYB039B £100 Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, signed 1970 25th Anniversary of VE Day cover Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster OBE was the leader RYD028E £1500 of the French section of Special Operations Executive and was Lord Hugh Dowding, signature stuck on the front on 1965 RAF Biggin Hill cover awarded the Croix de Guerre. Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding GCB, Apart from his war service, he was a corporate manager with the GCVO, CMG was an officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as a fighter pilot and then as French branch of the Ford Motor Company, in the postwar years commanding officer of No. 16 Squadron during the First World War. He was Air Officer serving in Dagenham. He wrote two memoirs about his service Commanding RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, and is generally credited with the Resistance during World War II. with playing a crucial role in Britain’s defence, and hence, the defeat of Adolf Hitler’s plan to invade Britain. He was unwillingly replaced in command in November 1940 by Big Wing advocate Sholto Douglas. Warren House, Shearway Road, Folkestone, Kent Ct19 4BF 2 Tel 01303 278137 Fax 01303 279429 Email [email protected] SPM02 ARTISTS Peter Arthur Firmin is an English artist and puppet maker. He was the founder of Smallfilms, along with Oliver Postgate. Between them they created a number of popular children’s TV programmes, The Saga of Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers, Bagpuss and Pogles’ David Hockney is a major British artist. He was an important Wood. Most of Smallfilms’ animation was produced in a farmyard barn on Firmin’s land in Blean part of the British Pop art movement, and, along with his near Canterbury in Kent. Firmin made the sets, puppets and backdrops for the programmes, fellow contemporary Peter Blake, was featured in the famous often also contributing to Pop art exhibition “Young Contemporaries”. Hockney has making sound and visual created many large paintings, several of which have sold for effects during filming. multi-million pound price tags. He has received many awards One of his daughters, and plaudits and in 2012 was made a member of the Order of Emily, appeared in the Merit, which holds no more than 24 members at a time for their opening sequence of contribution to the arts and sciences. Bagpuss. SGF013C £75 Peter Firmin, signed Benham 1996 Children’s Television Benham cover Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, also known as Pablo, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. SGH088A £200 Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), David Hockney signed Royal Mail Single European Market cover. and Guernica (1937). Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved universal renown for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments. Angus McBean was a Welsh photographer, set designer and cult figure associated with surrealist. Known as a mask maker, McBean gained a commission in 1936 from Ivor Novello for masks for his play “The Happy Hypocrite.” Novello was so impressed with McBean’s romantic photographs that he commissioned him to take a set of production photographs as well, including young actress Vivien Leigh.. McBean was to photograph Vivien Leigh on stage and in the studio for almost every performance she gave until her death thirty years later. McBean resultantly became one of the most significant portrait photographers of the 20th century, and was known as a photographer of celebrities SGP052B £1500 Pablo Picasso, signed Senegalese stamp on card, supplied with the original letter asking for the signature. Terrence Vance “Terry” Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor, comedian and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has SGL016H £75 directed 12 feature films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Time Bandits 08/10/95 British Film Year full set cover signed by Christopher Lee, (1981) and The Brothers Grimm (2005). The only “Python” not born in Britain, he became a Anna Neagle and photographer Angus McBean (he took the photo naturalised British citizen in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006. of Vivien Leigh which features on the 31p stamp.