"An apprentice at porcelain manufacturer Minton, Machin went on to attend classes in sculpture at Derby School of Art. He eventually obtained a scholarship at Royal College of Art to study sculpture and completed this course with a silver medal award in 1940. Josiah Wedgwood hired him as a designer in the 1940s,
and supported him during World War II when Machin was sentenced to twelve months prison as conscientious objector". ("The man behind the icon", Jana Harnett, Postal Heritage Trust, London, 30/9/2011)
