Collecting By Engraver

That Teddy Roosevelt engraving looks almost like a photograph!

jj wrote:
"I was scanning some Russian stamps today and was struck by the quality of this stamp. It was issued in 1958 in a set of three in different colour commemorating Karl Marx. The design was by I.I.Dubasov (does anyone know what I.I. stands for - I'm guessing Ivan Ivanovich).

"The engraving was by Tatiana Nikitina who has been mentioned here before for the quality of her engraving."

You might be interested in my series of three articles on Ivan Dubasov, to be found on the 'Stamporama' website at
stamporama.com/articles/display_article.php?id=RAz03ysxwyrxE

I'm sure I've posted some stamps by Nikitina, Mayorova and the other members of the Goznak engraving team here before.

Chile - 1901

Columbus
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

10cts. Red/Black
30cts. Violet/Black
50cts. Orange/Black




Vignette engraved by Robert Savage
The portrait on the 50cts stamp was finished by Charles Skinner. He worked over and made some retouches on the 50cts Master Die.
Frame, lettering & numerals engraved by George H. Seymour and George W. Downs

Robert Savage...


Charles Skinner...


More works of these two master engravers :

Robert Savage
In 1910 he engraved a woman portrait called "The ideal Head of an Algerian Girl"
This vignette was used on Mexican banknotes since 1925




And Charles Skinner...

Gypsy Girl.
Engraved in 1902 and used on the back of Mexican banknotes
(Banco de Aguas Calientes - $5-10-20-50-100-500 and $1000)

jorgesurcl, those are some beautifully engraved stamps you're showing lately, Spain, Italy, Vatican..... good stuff, great scans.

I also like the various banknotes you posted which shows that many engravers and designers worked on both stamps and banknotes.


I showed here on page 28 of this thread an Austrian S100 from 1960 which was engraved by Alfred Nefe who also engraved many stamps.
https://goscf.com/t/9106&whichpage=28#154228

The designer of that banknote Roman Hellmannalso designed a stamp issued in 1966 for the 150th Anniversary of the National Bank.
Rudolf Toth was the engraver.
Printing was done by the Austrian National Bank (Oesterreichische Nationalbank) whereas normally stamps are printed by the Austrian State Printer (Österreichische Staatsdruckerei)

Austria Scott 762




BTW Jorge, where do you get your information regarding engravers of banknotes?
I have a few from various countries some also printed by American Bank Note but the engravers' names are not on the banknotes.

lithograving - ABNC files in fellow's collections, auction's catalogues, articles and interviews in magazines, etc.
In the case of banknotes the same vignettes were used on banknotes of different countries. Then if a fellow has information on Ecuadorian banknotes for example, that also may be useful for a collector of Mexican banknotes.

Spain - 1944

Stamp Day
Mariano Pardo de Figueroa (AKA Doctor Thebussem)

Printed by FNMT

Engraved by German Martin Orbe (1892-1975)

Spain - 1929

International Exhibition Sevilla and Barcelona

Printed by FNMT

Galeon and view of Sevilla
1, 15, 25 cts.

Engraved by José Luis L. Sánchez-Toda (1901-1975)



El Macero (Municipal Guard)
2, 20, 50 cts.

Engraved by Camilo Delhom R. (1894-1970)



La Plaza de España (Main building in the exhibition)
5, 30 cts, 1pta.

Engraved by José Luis L. Sánchez-Toda (1901-1975)



King Alfonso XIII and Columbus Monument
10cts, 40 cts, 4pts, 10pts.

Engraved by Enrique Vaquer (1874-1931)



Airmail stamps . Spirit of St.Louis
5, 10, 25, 50cts, 1pt, 4pts.

Engraved by José Luis L. Sánchez-Toda (1901-1975)



Special Delivery stamp - Antelope
20 cts.

Engraved by Camilo Delhom R. (1894-1970)

Here is my mystery for the day.

In contrast to the superbly detailed images above, Jean E. Lorenzi was a man who created simple images using the minimum of lines. That is not to say that he was not a fine artist but as much of his work was caricature it would be possible to dismiss him as simply a cartoonist. A simple internet search shows many drawings where he has captured the full range of human expression with his few lines. Which brings me to his stamps...


Death Centenary of Frederic Ozanam


De La Salle commemoration.

Lorenzi designed several stamps for Monaco, several of them with this reverse engraving. If I saw this on a modern stamp I would think it was computer engraved but this was in 1954 and the punch card machines of that time were not capable of imagery.

In my opinion, it would have been an exceptionally difficult piece of engraving to produce this simple image. And that brings up the question of "Who was the engraver?"

A French stamp site that I visited had no doubt that Lorenzi, himself, was also the engraver and his is the only name on the stamp. At that time, with all the other Monaco stamps, that meant he did both.

However, on all the sites I have found of his work, none mention him as being an engraver as well as an artist or calligrapher. Surely if he was good enough to engrave these stamps, he did other engravings as well. If anyone can show some of his other engravings, or knows more about this artist, I'd appreciate it if you could post it here.

jjarmstrong47 - I don't have any information about this engraver.



On La Salle's stamps (Monaco 1954) signature seems more the signature of the artist who made the drawing that the engraver of the stamps.
In this one from 1961 the signature is as we expect it to be :




The two stamps of La Salle are very different :

Compare letter "o" in "postes" :



Compare letter "M" in Monaco
Compare the nun's arm :




And this one was designed by Lorenzi but engraved by Gandon :

Thanks Jorgesurcl. As you would expect the starfish stamp has both names. At this stage I expect that Lorenzi was also an engraver but I'd love to find confirmation.

Edit: I just noticed that Nethryk has shown the respect for life stamp with the hand and ant elsewhere. He lists the artist as Jean Eugene Lorenzi and states that it was engraved by Gandon. Perhaps if he is reading this he will share the source.

If Gandon did that stamp, it is less likely that Lorenzi did the others.

San Marino - 1935

12th Anniversary of San Marino Fascist Party

Printed by Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato - Officina Carte Valori

Designed by Enrico Federici
Frame & Vignette engraved by Pietro Nicastro (1907-1976)

These are the signatures of Pietro Nicastro (P.NIC) on the stamps shown before (San Marino 1935)) :



Nicastro Family

As in others families (Delnoce, Smillie, Harrison, etc) there were several Nicastro which were engravers.

Vittorio Nicastro (born 1916) was a prominent Italian engraver. Active between 1938-1980 he engraved many stamps for Italy, Vatican and San Marino.

Vatican 1938 - Printed by Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato-Officina Carte Valori
Engraved by Vittorio Nicastro - Designed by Corrado Mezzana



Spain - Banknote 500ptas. - 1940
Printed by Calcografia & Carte Valori - Milano - Italy
Engraved by Vittorio Nicastro




Don Juan de Austria



Pietro Nicastro (1907-1976) was the eldest brother of Vittorio. He began working in Italy but emigrated to Argentina in 1948 remained there for the rest of his life.

Argentina 1955 - Mount Fitz Roy
Printed by Casa de Moneda de la Nación
Engraved by Pietro Nicastro



Giorgio (Jorge) Nicastro (1935-2016). Son of Pietro. He came with his father to Argentina in 1948, and was a successful engraver of stamps, banknotes and coins.
Unfortunately Giorgio Nicastro passed away few weeks ago (February 5, 2016)

Argentina - 1958 - Liberty and Democracy
Printed by Casa de Moneda de la Nación
Engraved by Giorgio Nicastro



Argentina - $500 Banknote - 1980's
Printed by Casa de Moneda de la Nación
Portrait of San Martin engraved by Giorgio Nicastro

@jorgesurcl

Fantastic stuff you are showing there about the Nicastro Family.

I was only aware of Vittorio Nicastro since I have a few of
the Italian stamps he engraved.

jjarmstrong47 - Re: Your question about the above-posted Monaco Respect for Life stamp, engraved by Pierre Gandon: my source is the Stanley Gibbons Postage Stamp Catalogue (1965 ed.) Part II, page 507. - nethryk

Thanks Nethryk. I see that now. It makes you think that perhaps Gandon did the other two as well as the style is so similar. I think I remember reading of a list somewhere of all Gandon's stamps so it looks like more research is on the way. In the meantime it will stay as unknown engraver.

More works of Pietro Nicastro (1907-1976) in Argentina.
Printed by Casa de Moneda de la Nación

100th Anniversary of the Death of Gral. José de San Martin (1950)




Eva Peron (1952)



Gral.José de San Martin (1950)
100th Anniversary of his Death



$500 Banknote (1964)
House Grand Bourg in Buenos Aires