Collecting By Engraver

nethryk - Those two bell stamps are a perfect example of different
engraving styles (techniques?)

I find Mario Colombati's work and most of the engraved Italian stamps
of the fifties & sixties more.... how shall I say "rough" or
"coarse" compared to Slania's bell.
And I'm not saying that just because it's from
the Great Master since I don't idolize him like some collectors do.

Some of the differences in engravings could also be due to
the various presses used by the printers.
Just look at the Swedish stamps printed by a monocolour press
up to the early sixties and then with the multicolour press (even
when only used for 1 or 2 colours)which they started using then.
The engravings have a much different (cleaner? neater? sharper?) look about them
no matter who the engraver was before or after.
Then in the late eighties or early nineties I believe Sweden Post bought another new press but
since I don't have any of those stamps I really can't compare.

Comparing the 3 engravers on the International Youth Year Sheet
is as you say difficult since it was a combination print
recess and offset/litho.

I personally like the one by Majvor Franzén but none of them
was a real challenge to these engravers I believe.

Slania probably engraved his in less than an hour before breakfast
and then engraved a couple more the rest of the day.

For Arne Wallhorn it was one of the last stamps he engraved.
His career spanned from 1953 - 1986, he died in 1994 at age 73.

I only have a few of the Bosnia & Herzegovina 1906 landscape
definitive set engraved by Ferdinand Schirnböck working
on designs from Koloman Moser 1868 - 1918.

At the time these stamps were hailed as revolutionizing stamp design.

Moser was as per this quote from Wikipedia :
an Austrian artist who exerted considerable influence on twentieth-century graphic
art and one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of Wiener Werkstätte.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koloman_Moser

There is a lot of foxing on these stamps but you can still see the
fine engraving by Schirnböck.










Austria issued this stamp for Koloman Moser on the 50th Anniversary of his death.

Scott 818

nethryk - while I was reading your post about Majvor Franzén-Matthews immediately I thought
of Maria Magdalena Laurent the Austrian engraver and how much they have in common.

Both were born in 1938, Franzén's first stamp I believe was issued in 1967, Laurent's in 1968.
They were both excellent engravers and would have been number one stars for most printers
except in Sweden they already had Slania and many other engravers and Austria had Toth plus a dozen
more.
Maria Laurent's career lasted longer than Franzén's though. The latest Austrian stamp I have
of hers was issued in 2000 but I believe she worked past that date.
She also engraved various Austrian banknotes for the
Austrian National Bank Security Printer.

Maria Laurent's first stamp was issued in 1968

Scott B324




Laurent engraved only one of the Opera House set .

Scott 840 a.-h. Sheet of 8, 1969




Scott 840h

Looking at Lithograving's scans is such a pleasure.

All of this thread has been absolutely magnificent! Lithograving and nethryk, you guys should get together and publish a glossy textbook in colour! I would like to book my copy here and now!

:)

timbres667 and Perf14 - Thanks for your compliments. Although this thread may never merit publication, it is sure a fun way to share knowledge about engraved stamps.

lithograving - Your point that the various types of printing presses are yet another important variable in stamp production that can dramatically affect the modeling and appearance of the final product is very well taken, and I gladly defer to your expertise in that area.

No doubt many collectors would agree that Czeslaw Slania is the undisputed king of fine line engraving. His technique results in sometimes astonishing effects, especially when the model for a stamp's design is a photograph. Here are images of three examples that readily come to mind.

- nethryk

Brown bear, issued by Sweden on April 11, 1978, Scott No. 1234, Facit No. 1038.


Girls, booklet stamp issued by Sweden on August 26, 1982, Scott No. 1418, Facit No. 1221.


Christian Matras (1900-1991), poet, issued by Faroes on June 6, 1988, Scott No. 176, Facit No. 171.

However (and isn't there always a however?), as Pablo Picasso is quoted as saying (in translation, of course), "Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth." Generally speaking, photographs don't lie - and perhaps that is why it is so darned difficult for photographers to produce truly artistic ones (such as those by Ansel Adams or Cecil Beaton).

I regard engraved postage stamps as individual works of art, and I have come to adopt the viewpoint that each engraver brings something unique to the table to be appreciated in its own right, without comparison to other engravers. For instance, the Austrian stamps by Maria Laurent that lithograving posted above are wonderful examples of the art of engraving and are a joy to behold, without reference to any other stamp images posted in this thread.

Here are images of some stamps produced by another talented woman engraver, Barbara Kowalska (1932- ), and issued by Poland during the 1960s.

- nethryk

Woman mailing a letter, after a painting by Helena Przezdziecka (1753-1821), issued on October 9, 1962, Scott No. 1094.


King Wladyslaw II Jagiello and Queen Jadwiga, issued on May 5. 1964, Scott No. 1230.


3rd century Roman merchantman, issued on January 25, 1965, Scott No. 1302.


Mail coach, after a painting by Piotr Michalowski (1800-1855), issued on October 9, 1965, Scott No. 1363.


Memorial, Plaszow, with tab, issued on November 29, 1965, Scott No. 1366.


Bronze weapon and ornaments, issued on December 10, 1966, Scott No. 1462.

Hmmm, Sharp teeth to avoid

Hi Dave - Nice to see you joining the engravers corner.

Thanks Rod and Perf14 for those kind words, much appreciated.

Engraved stamps have always been a passion of mine ever since I first started collecting
and now with a scanner I can see so much more detail.
It's like seeing the stamp for the first time again. Also it's fun doing research on the net
about engravers even though there is very little info out there.

nethryk - Yes lots of Slania's work based on a photo look " better" than a photo.
The irony is that even though we consider these engraving now as art,
for the pre-photo world engraving was one of the ways in presenting an image as for
instance in newspapers.
I sometimes wonder what the reaction would have been from people
in those days if they were shown a photo lets say of themselves.
They would have been blown away, I bet.

You're mentioning of Picasso and art brings up another point.
Paintings in general and particularly large canvases usually aren't
suitable as a subject for a tiny stamp in my opinion.

On the other hand this Czechoslovakian stamp of Picasso's famous Guernica is not a bad facsimile
of the real thing even though the original is 3.5m (11') tall and 7.8m (25.6') wide.


Egraver : Josef Hercik
Combination Print : steel engraving - 1 colour black, photogravure - 1 colour blue

Scott 1408

The following shows more of Maria Laurent's excellent engravings
for the Austrian State Printer.

Scott 848 1969
Combination Print: 1 colour engraving - black, 2 colour photogravure - grey, buff

Laurent engraved one in this set of 8 issued for the
200th Anniverasry of the Albertina Museum, Vienna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertina

I've already shown the others on the art thread.
See link :https://goscf.com/t/5754&whichpage=6




Scott 869 1970
Combination Print : 1 colour engraving - brown, 1 colour photogravure - buff


She engraved one out of a set of six. I've posted the others
previously on the clocks, watches & timekeeping thread.
See link :https://goscf.com/t/14245&whichpage...Terms=clocks

In 1970 Maria Laurent engraved again only one from a set
of six to honour popular Austrian operettas.

Scott 871 - 876
Combination Print : 1 colour engraving, 1 colour photo

Scott 934 - 936 1972
Combination Print : 1 colour recess, 1 colour photogravure



There is really hardly any difference in the quality of the
work by the 3 engravers: Maria Laurent, Wolfgang Seidel or
Alfred Fischer.
Perhaps Seidel's is a bit more detailed but it could be
because of the scene depicted.