Description

Extended Data

DAAO URL

https://www.daao.org.au/bio/frank-davies-manley

Birth Place

Lambeth, London, England

Biography

Artist & engraver (1994 – 1976). Born into a London working class family in 1894, Frank Davies Manley was educated at local schools. His innate ability to accurately render an evocative image with a few well placed lines was evident as a teenager. Encouraged by his headmaster, he was accepted in 1909 at the prestigious De La Rue and Company to undertake a seven year apprenticeship as an engraver. He attended London’s Central School of Art & Crafts and Bolt Court School of Engraving & Lithography, later both to become part of London University of the Arts, for formal tuition as an adjunct to the apprenticeship. WWI intervened and the period of indenture was never completed. After working in the publishing industry, Manley was recruited in 1928 by the nascent Commonwealth Bank Note Printing Branch in Melbourne and there his fine engraving ability proven, his role grew to include design. The first stamp wholly designed and engraved by Manley was the 1930 Kingsford Smith Commemorative Series and his last, Archer , was to mark the 1960 Melbourne Cup Centenary. Of all the stamps issued by the Australian Post Master for mainland and territorial use during this thirty year period, in excess of ninety were designed by Manley. He engraved a larger number of the dyes for printing plate production. Manley’s designs included native animals, royal definitives, historical commemoratives, war and peace time acknowledgements and Australian iconic images for everyday postage. Two hundred and twenty-three Australian artists anonymously submitted six hundred and sixty-three designs to a competition organized by the Post Master General in 1946 in an effort to find some exciting new stamp design ideas. Eight were short listed for production, but only two were seen to fruition. F. D. Manley’s Hereford Bull’s Head design issued in 1948 was one of these. Bank note design and production fell within the scope of work carried out at Note Printing Branch during this period and of the notes in the series released 1933-34, Manley designed the rear face of each denomination. Of the series that was released 1953-54, Manley designed the front face of the ten shilling and ten pound notes and the rear face of the five and twenty pound notes. He also designed Government documents which required nationalistic, security quality graphics, such as war bonds and savings stamps, food ration coupons, postal notes and naturalization certificates. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology approached Manley in the post-war years to teach etching, engraving and die sinking to apprentices in the printing trade, a post he held for five years concurrent with his full time employment at Note Printing. Manley was an active member of the Victorian Artist’s Society and a member of their governing board in the 1940s and 50s. He used his personal time to dabble in many artistic media. He excelled at fine detailed work that mirrored the techniques he applied in the workplace. He painted the Australian landscape in watercolour and oils, produced linocuts and etchings, some which he hand coloured, and in his later years he produced many ink and wash drawings of the facades of Melbourne’s historic buildings. In 1964 the Victorian State Library purchased a watercolour painting of the Melbourne Town Hall for its collection. After his retirement, in January 1960 Manley was invited to join the Stamp Advisory Committee which has the ultimate power over the choice of prospective and finished stamp designs. He served on the committee for five years. Between February and June 2007, the Post Master Gallery in Melbourne held an exhibition featuring the work of the master engravers of the Note Printing Branch of the Reserve Bank, those who had skillfully incised the dies used to produce all Australian postage stamps in the period 1937 to 1973. The 'Artists of Steel’ exhibition subsequently went on tour of Australia to major cities and regional towns. Speaking about the exhibition, curator Richard Breckon (Australia Post Historian) named Frank Manley as the pre-eminient artist of steel, having engraved and/or designed almost all stamps released in the 1930s and 1940s and a large number from the 1950s. The enormous body of work attributed to Frank Davies Manley is a valuable legacy to philately, engraving, art and design. Writers: Gay, Sandra Date written: 2009 Last updated: 2011

Born

b. 24 October 1894

Summary

Manley was a prolific designer of Australian postage stamps 1929 - 1959.

Gender

Male

Died

19-Jan-76

Age at death

82