In his declining years,
Prof. Max Švabinský (1873 - 1962), a life-long admirer of the beauties of nature with a special passion for butterflies, reminiscing about the happy days of his summer stays in various parts of Czechoslovakia during his career of an artist, began designing a set of stamps depicting 8 butterflies and a moth in their natural setting against the blue skies and at sunset, each design full of poetic details, making the whole a true gem of the stamp art.
In 1963, Zuzana Švabinská, his stepdaughter, said that this last series of colour drawings in chalk of his was a graphic look back on the whole of his life: he not only featured his favourite butterflies (just with what pleasure and enthusiasm he worked on them!) but also included views of the landscapes that played an important part in his life as well as in his works of art.
Summers in the 1890s-1910s:
20h: the highlands around Kozlov near Litomyšl.
Summers in the 1920s:
40h: Libechov on the Elbe near Ríp Hill,
1 Kcs: Bezdez Castle,
2 Kcs: Bohemian Paradise.
Summers in the 1930s in Slovakia:
30h: Pohorelská Maša,
60h: Muránská vysocina,
15h: Low Tatras.
Summers in the 1940s - 1950s:
1.60 Kcs: anywhere in Czechoslovakia;
80h: Chodov (part of Prague): view from Švabinský's garden .
Each of these stamps was printed in pure four-colour steel engraving that had required the master engraver
Jindra Schmidt (1897 - 1984) to engrave a separate die for each colour. The successive colours, beginning with the palest tint and ending with the darkest, were printed over each other on sheets of paper fed into the press by hand with maximum precision to ensure perfect register.
The set was printed on die stamp print presses, which produce outstanding, clean, crisp and detailed prints preserving the quality of the original engravings very faithfully.
Summers in the 1930s in Slovakia: 15h:
Orange Tip - Low Tatras:
Summers in the 1890s-1910s: 20h:
Southern Festoon - the highlands around Kozlov near Litomyšl:
Summers in the 1930s in Slovakia: 30h:
Mountain Apollo - Pohorelská Maša:
Summers in the 1920s: 40h:
Yellow Swallowtail - Libechov on the Elbe near Ríp Hill:
Summers in the 1930s in Slovakia: 60h:
European Peacock - Muránská vysocina:
Summers in the 1940s - 1950s: 80h:
Camberwell Beauty or
Mourning Cloak - Chodov (part of Prague): view from Švabinský's garden
Summers in the 1920s: 1 Kcs:
Blue Underwing - Bezdez Castle:
Summers in the 1940s - 1950s: 1.60 Kcs:
Red Admiral - anywhere in Czechoslovakia:
Summers in the 1920s: 2 Kcs:
Common Brimstone - Bohemian Paradise:
FDCs:
Images by courtesy of Ramon
https://sellosyartistas.blogspot.co...latelia.html
Posted 04/23/2019 09:16 am
