Collecting By Engraver

The stamp was engraved by Elsa Catelin who has done quite a few since the late nineties. Interestingly, the French now do surveys as to which French woman most resembles Marianne and Brigitte Bardot was the first winner. Others have included Catherine Deneuve, also a stunning looking French woman

I also think that the press tried to get as aggressive a photo as they could of Inna. I don't think she matches Bardot in her heyday or Deneuve but I don't think she particularly wants to anyway. It makes me laugh that after having so many Mariannes that were shown bare breasted, some French groups want to ban or boycott this one because the model has shown her breasts in public. As the song says, "Raise the Good Old Double Standard High".

Speaking about "breasts" here is a stamp produced
in the heyday of Austrian engraved stamps.


Engraver : Rudolf Toth

Designer : Adalbert Pilch


Austria 1961

Scott 665




Based on the painting The Triumph of Ariadne by the Austrian
painter Hans Makart.
As you can see herehttps://www.google.ca/search?q=hans...%3B400%3B238 he did like to paint female
beauties

Wow, litho --- that's a great one.

Thanks Kirk.

I believe I posted a scan of that stamp already
a few years ago but it's such a superb example
that I thought it wouldn't hurt to show it again.

Just to remind collectors of what we have lost when one compares
it with what is issued today.

Here is a stamp that can be bought today for
less than a buck but what a beauty.

It comes from a set of four by Toth and they are all beautiful. I bought the whole set at my stamp club for about a dollar.

I'm slowly catching up here. I have a question which may strain the memory. On p107, Jorges wrote
"EL SALVADOR - 1894 - Columbus
Printed by Hamilton Bank Note Co.
Vignettes engraved by Marcus W. Baldwin (1853-1925)

I have the $2, $5 and $10 from this set. Did Baldwin engrave the $5 as well. The lettering is very different so perhaps this stamp was done by a different combination of engravers. Here are mine to refresh your memories and save scrolling back so far.

Another question.

For me, the bigger the image for these stamps the better I am able to see all the detail. I've been posting at roughly 600x800. Is there a limit on the board and do the moderators shout at you with big capital letters if you exceed it.

I was too quick posting the first of those questions. I've just got to page 122 and Jorges has answered it. All three were engraved by Baldwin. Thanks.

Nethryk, I have a spare used copy of the Haitian stamp shown on p.124 that you admired.



If you would like it, please contact me. As a new member here, I can't use the email system yet. I have learned so much from your posts, I would be pleased to offer this as a way of saying thankyou.

At last!
I've read all 136 pages so now it is time to digest all that and move forward.

Back in the early eighties I bought a fairly large USA collection. The dealer had just finished picking over a South American collection and he threw that in as well. This was the beginning of my love of engraved stamps as although all the really expensive stamps were gone, there were still several hundred beautiful stamps left. It seemed that all of my favourites were the engraved ones. I'll be posting some of these soon.

Then I discovered Slania so for the last few years I've collected about 80% of his work and this led me to look more widely, especially when he engraved one or two from a set. His best work is unbeatable but a lot of the early and a few later works seem a bit pedestrian to me. In the sets, you can compare his work with others and there have been times when I have thought it was like trying to compare Mozart to Beethoven. When you are that good, who cares? Well, I do, I suppose.

Here are two excellent portraits from the 1966 Nobel prize booklet from Sweden. Looking at the stamps it is hard to see a difference in quality but when you blow them up, I believe you can see why Slania was rated so highly.


Scanned small.


Slania


Sjobloom

They have used different styles of engraving. Slania has stuck to the more traditional lines while Sjobloom has used a more pointilistic approach, but to me, there is more character and definition in the Slania stamp. I don't expect everyone to agree. Like I said, when you are that good....

Here are the lowest two values from the 1936 set from Panama for the fourth Spanish-American Postal Conference. Unfortunately I have no details on these or the others in the set which I don't have (yet).

And to go back a bit.....

Here is a much nicer picture of Inna Shevchenko which shows why the artist used her as the model for the new Marianne stamp.


Inna Shevchenko
Much nicer than the awful picture used by the Australian newspaper

When a country gains nationhood, they often use their stamps to indicate their pride to the world. Pakistan became a separate dominion in 1947 and a republic in 1956. For about the first decade they issued some beautiful engraved stamps, printed at first by De La Rue but from 1952, printing was increasingly done by the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation. I recently acquired quite a lot of these early issues so I'll share some here. Most of these can be purchased for a few cents used and even mint copies are not that expensive.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a lawyer, politician, and the founder of Pakistan.[1] Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947, and as Pakistan's first Governor-General from independence until his death. He is revered in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader) and Baba-i-Qaum(Father of the Nation). His birthday is observed as a national holiday. (from Wikipedia)

This stamp was issued in 1989, presumably for his 40th death anniversary though a year late. They have used an older engraving for the centre with a photolitho frame.



This is the same engraving but the whole stamp is recess printed. I confess that I have not been able to find this in the catalogue so they may be revenue stamps. Any help would be appreciated.



I believe this is SG68 which shows the mausoleum of Emperor Jehangir in Lahore. Please correct me if I am wrong. Printed by the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation. for the seventh anniversary of independence.



Another from the same set. This shows the Kaghan Valley. Stamps like this make me think about my preference for used stamps (well, think about it anyway).




The next stamp comes in a few values and colours and is in my opinion, the nicest of these early Pakistan stamps. It also shows how careful an engraver needs to be. The inscription is in English and Bengali. Here is the note from Gibbons.



So this stamp is from Pakistan, not Shakistan.

That second stamp, jjarmstrong47, is a 1994 definitive. There's a whole set of 12 or 15 (can't remember exactly) values, all in the same design, but in different colour combinations. The engraver was Zulfiqar Ali. You'll find him/her on my blog but this is the only set I've been able to attribute to this engraver so far. It does seem though, that the engraving of your first stamp is very similar if not identical to the portait on the definitive set, so a little more research is obviously needed but I have not been able to find out anything more yet.

Thanks Adrian. There were a few different of these in the lot I bought but I couldn't find them.Now, of course, I open my catalogue at 1994 and it hits me in the face. I think I'll plead old age and move on.

I went to my Stamp club last night. There was nothing in the auction that interested me so I settled down to pick a few engraved stamps from the exchange sheets. A friend who understands my affliction called me over and showed me the labels below. Though cinderellas, I think they are worth sharing as they knocked me out and at twelve dollars for the set of four, I thought they were a bargain. Printed by the American Bank Note Company. They are quite large measuring roughly 55mm x 38mm.