Introduction

As part of efforts to improve Franco-British relations after WWII, de Gaulle commissioned this new Marianne, another Government Provisory Issue, to be printed in London by Thomas de La Rue. This Marianne had a relatively short lifespan, as l'Atelier des Timbres-Poste in Paris was soon able to resume printing. The first issue was on March 17, 1945.

Edmund Dulac (1882-1953) chose as his model, Lea, the wife of his friend Emile Rixens, for this first representation of Marianne on a stamp of the new French Republic. Engraving (the process of cutting the design into the die) was done at de La Rue, by Leonard Phillips.