Original Painting of the actress and musician Yvonne Arnaud, painted in 1946 for an unproduced Churchman cigarette card, the series was going to be titled "Stars Of Variety".  As far as I know, the illustration was created by the artist working on a large sepia photo, which then was sprayed with colour and overpainted. This was then pasted to a thin sheet of steel so that it was ready for the printing process, but it has since been removed from the steel.  Measures approximately over 5.25 x 10 inches (13.5 x 25.5 cms). It also comes with two hand-written and signed letters from Arnaud concerning the painting.  The first letter talks about an original photo that had been sent to Arnaud, which she hated and says she has torn up!  She writes that; "I am no beauty, never was, but I certainly do not look like that!" The second letter gives approval of the new painting.

Provenance: This has been held in the Mardon, Son & Hall archive in Bristol since it was produced in 1946. Famous for dealing with the art and printing of the tobacco trade, the business flourished after being set up in the Victorian era and was able to employ the best artists available.  The detail and quality of their work is incredible.  A team of artists would work for several months producing up to fifty hand painted pieces centred around a certain theme.  They would then present it to the client, often Wills Tobacco company who would authorise the reproduction, or sometimes not, as was the case with this series.