French Stamp Engravers

Henry Cheffer ( 1880-1957 ) was a French painter, illustrator, stamp designer and engraver.
He engraved stamps for Persia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Andorra,
Denmark, Spain, Monaco,Saar,for many French colonies and of course for France.

Further reading regarding Cheffers' long career is available
at this link (in French) which Florian made me aware of.
It is a 5 part article from the TibreMAG magazine

http://www.timbresmag.com/2016/01/2...e-cheffer-i/

Cheffer was the designer and engraver for the first intaglio French stamp by Atelier du timbre (French Government Printer),
the 20 Francs Pont du Gard, Nimes definitive.

First printing from flat plates was issued May 15, 1929 (Scott 253).
The stamps were subsequently printed on rotary presses,
reissued in November 1931 and printed until October 1937.

Below is a rotary printed example.

Scott 254A



Yvert&Tellier lists a type IIB which have a broken frame line.




Cheffer also designed & engraved the second high value of the series, the 10 Francs Port of La Rochelle issued in July 1929.

Scott 251




Scott 252

FRANCE 1936

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 311, 312

Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge.






FRANCE 1937

Designer & Engraver :Henry Cheffer

Scott 325

Jean Mermoz, Aviator

FRANCE 1937

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 330 & 331



A stamp was issued in June1937 for the 3rd century of the publication
of Rene Descartes' " Discours de la Méthode " but the stamp
was inscribed Discours sur la Méthode
To prevent speculation the French Post Office had the stamps
reprinted with the corrected de but did not withdraw
the error stamps.
5 million of Scott 330 were issued and 4.5 million of Scott 331.
The latter is valued roughly 3 times as much as the error
stamp as per Scott and Y&T
As you can see from Cheffers' sketch it was his mistake but it did
affect his career and he went on to engrave many more stamps.
See link
http://www.timbresmag.com/2016/01/2...perstar-iii/


FRANCE 1938

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 343

Miners




The stamp was reissued in 1941 surcharged with 1F in red

Scott 407





FRANCE 1938

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 347

Port of St.Malo



The stamp was reissued in 1941 surcharged with 10F in red

Scott 413





FRANCE 1938

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 352

Visit of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth to France.

FRANCE 1939

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 388

Pumping Station at Liege




FRANCE 1939

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B85

50th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower





FRANCE 1940

Designers & Engravers : Raoul Serres, Henry Cheffer

Scott B94 & B95

Soldiers relief fund

FRANCE 1940

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B97

Marshal Joffre, surtax was for war charities.




FRANCE 1942

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B130

The surtax was for the benefit of French airmen and their families





FRANCE 1943

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 466

500th Anniversary of the founding of the Hospital of Beaune

Yvert&Tellier has bleu (blue) bley - gris (gray blue) and bleu-noir ( blackish blue)





I only see light blue and dark blue.

FRANCE 1946

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B205

The Letter by Jean Simeon Chardin




FRANCE 1946

Designers & Engravers : Charles Mazelin (1882 - 1964) Scott 570
Henry Cheffer Scott 571

Scenes and monuments.





FRANCE 1948

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B232

Dr. Calmatte worked on bacillus vaccines.

FRANCE 1949

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 623

Abbaye de Saint Wandrille



The same design was used again in 1951, new value and colour
now light blue

Scott 649






FRANCE 1952

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott B266

Stamp Day






FRANCE 1952

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 677

Battle of Narvik 1940

FRANCE 1952

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 680

Defense of Bir Hacheim




FRANCE 1952

Designer : Maurice Utrillo

Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 686

Versailles Gate




FRANCE 1955

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer

Scott 775

View of Marseille

FRANCE 1943

18th Century Costumes

Scott B167 - B172

Picardy

Designer : Antonin Delzers

Engraver : Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue





Brittany

Designer : Albert Decaris

Engraver : Emile Feltesse




Ile de France

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin



Burgundy

Designer : Paul-Pierre Lemagny

Engraver : Charles-Paul Dufresne





Auvergne

Designer & Engraver : René Cottet




Provence

Designer & Engraver : Albert Decaris

FRANCE 1944

Personalities of the 17th Century

Scott B179 - 184

Moliere , French playwright and actor

Designer : Michel Ciry

Engraver : Charles Mazelin




Jules Hardouin-Mansart , French architect in the Baroque style.

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Gandon





Blaise Pascal, mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher

Designer : G. Edelinck

Engraver : Pierre Munier





Le Grand Condé, French general

Designer & Engraver : Albert Decaris




Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French politician was Minister of Finances during the rule of King Louis XIV.

Designer : after a portrait by Robert Nanteuil

Engraver : Pierre Munier




King Louis XIV, the Sun King

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Gandon

FRANCE 1943

Marshall Philippe Pétain, French Vichy leader.
The surtax was used for national relief.

Scott B152a





Scott B149 - B150

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin
after a photo document by Draeger





Scott B151 - B152

Designer & Engraver : Jules Piel




Scott B151-152 had the same design as Scott 415-418 issued
in 1941.
See below.

FRANCE 1941

Designer & Engraver : Jules Piel

Scott 415-418

Marshall Philippe Pétain

lithograving....great selection of stamps to start off the thread.

Here's the original Cheffer 'maquette' (design) for the Descartes stamp You can see the correction pasted on the image.
Source:Postal Museum of France





Descartes revisited...59 years later
Issued 1n 1996
Scott# 25112
Engraver:Martin Morck

Another original design: Andre Spitz(Postal Museum of France)
for a pair of semi postal stamps issued in 1940 in aid of the re-population of France.

Designer: Andre Spitz
Engravers: Emile Feltesse & Jules Piel
Scott# B90-91







From 1940..similar design by Andre Spitz
Engraver: Jules Piel
In aid of victims of War
Scott#B103

Another preliminary design from the collection of the Postal Museum of France for a semi postal stamp....the surtax used to provide radios for the blind.I personally prefer the design that was not used.

Designer:Antoine Delzers



Stamp Issued in 1938
Design/Engraver:Jules Piel
Scott B79

A set of semi postal stamps issued in 1949 show casing skilled labor jobs..the surtax benefited the Red Cross.

Scott B233-236

Farmer
Engraver:Albert Decaris


Fisherman
Engraver:Henry Cheffer


Miner
Engraver:Albert Decaris


Welder
Engraver:Pierre Gandon