Dorothy Sayers
(1893-1957), WriterDorothy Leigh Sayers
Sitter in 9 portraits
Most of Sayer's novels were produced while she worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency. Committed to developing the potential of detective fiction, she moved away from the 'whodunit' narrative, preferring to explore crime, its motivations, mechanisms and effects. Her twelve novels include Unnatural Death (1927), Murder must Advertise (1933) and The Nine Tailors (1934), which feature the aristocratic detective hero Lord Peter Wimsey. From 1940, Sayers concentrated on writing religious drama, broadcasting and works of criticism and translation.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
by Sir William Oliphant Hutchison
oil on canvas, circa 1949-1950
NPG 5146
by Unknown photographer
vintage print, early 1920s
NPG x194180
by Howard Coster
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1938
NPG x2323
Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupine
by Wolfgang Suschitzky
gelatin silver print, circa 1944
NPG x200760
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- Recent acquisition
Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupines
by Wolfgang Suschitzky
gelatin silver print, circa 1944
NPG x200761
- Find out more >
- Use this image
- Recent acquisition
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