7 May - 25 July

As part of the London 2010: Festival of Stamps, The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) and the Royal Philatelic Collection worked in partnership with Guildhall Art Gallery, in the heart of the City of London, to produce the major exhibition Empire Mail: George V & The GPO.

This exhibition explored the reign of King George V (1910 – 1936), an era of conflict, change and innovation, which saw the world brought closer together. Investigate the passions of the 'philatelist king', alongside the extraordinary period of design and creativity in the General Post Office during the period.

Featuring vehicles, pillar boxes, posters, philatelic rarities and pioneering works from the GPO Film Unit, Empire Mail: George V & The GPO will explore themes from the King's reign such as innovations in mail transportation, the first Atlantic air crossing, the rise of graphic design in the 1920s and 1930s and the impact of conflict.

The items on display were sourced from the unique and complementary collections of the BPMA and the Royal Philatelic Collection. These included a sheet of unused Edward VII Tyrian plum stamps plus the only one known to have been used, sent on an envelope to George V on 5 May 2010 when he was Prince of Wales and arriving the following day when he had become king following the death of his father.

Other items included original artwork, dies, plates and essays from many of the stamps of George V's reign, including the Seahorses and the 1924/5 Wembley Empire Exhibition. Stamps created by Lawrence of Arabia and Lord Baden Powell could be viewed, plus items relating to the RMS Titanic, which carried mail. Gems from King George V's own collection included an unused Post Office Mauritius 2d stamp and a 1d used on a 'ball cover', which are among the rarest and most valuable in the world, Bermuda 'Perots' and Cape Triangular errors among many others.

Between 8 – 15 May the exhibition included regular demonstrations by staff from the security printers Enschedé, who printed reproductions of the 1929 PUC £1 on an intaglio press. Facsimile packs containing replicas of this stamp were available to purchase from Royal Mail. Enschedé printed the new stamps issued on 8 May 2010, some of which were produced in intaglio.

George V and the GPO: Stamps, Conflict & Creativity, a fascinating new book by Douglas Muir, co-curator of the exhibition, is available at http://shop.postalheritage.org.uk/

The Royal Philatelic Collection was started in the nineteenth century by Royal stamp enthusiasts and its present structure – which includes a large amount of material rarely seen in public – was the creation of King George V, a keen stamp collector, and his adviser Sir Edward Bacon.

Click here to view an online version of the exhibition.

Click here to see photos of the exhibition on Flickr.

Click here to see all of the talks and events that took place during the exhibition.