"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)
Arnold Machin was apprenticed to decorate china and would later go on to work at the Old China Works and Wedgwood. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art and was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1956.
