English painter
Mildred Mary Ratcliffe FSSI (1899–1988) was an English painter, commercial artist & calligrapher, known for her poster designs for the Post Office Savings Bank.[1]
Biography
Ratcliffe was born on 17 October 1899 in Rochester, Kent as the second of Alfred and Rose Ratcliffe's seven children, and was educated by a governess, before attending Rochester Grammar School for Girls.[1]
Upon leaving school Ratcliffe took up a position as a wages clerk with the Civil Service, at Chatham Dockyard.[1] Approximately four years later, she became a clerical officer with the Post Office Savings Bank, at Hammersmith.[1] In the mid-1920s she transferred to their new publicity unit, spending the rest of her career there designing posters and other promotional material.[1] She also designed the bank's annual Christmas card for members of the royal family.[1]
In 1950 Ratcliffe scribed and illuminated, in gold, a 'Book of Acknowledgement', for the Benenden Civil Service Chest Hospital's Appeal Fund. The book was presented to Queen Elizabeth on 6 July 1950, when she opened the hospital.[1] She also lettered two books of remembrance for St Mark's Church, Surbiton.[1][2]
She exhibited at two Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibitions and was appointed a Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators (FSSI).[1]
For most of her life, Ratcliffe lived alone in a flat in West Kensington, London, before retiring to a cottage at 1, Mill Street, Loose, Kent in 1959.[1] In retirement, she joined and exhibited with the Maidstone Art Society, served as life vice-president of the Civil Service Arts Club, and acted as art tutor to local children.[1]
Ratcliffe died on 19 October 1988.[1] Her funeral took place at All Saints' Church, Loose.[1] Examples of her work are in the collections of the Imperial War Museums,[1] The Postal Museum,[3] The National Archives,[4] and Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery.[1]
Maidstone Art Society award a Mildred Ratcliffe Prize for 'Best in Show' at their annual exhibition.[5]
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