The Arms Of Brussels - Belgium#80

BELGIAN POSTAL ISSUE
The Arms of Brussels
Issued: 1896-97
Scott Catalogue #80




The stamp takes the image its central image from the 'Arms' of the City of Brussels. The image is that of St. Michael slaying Satan. (thanks to khj for putting me on to St. Mike and the bad guy)



I believe the buildings depicted in the background are the Hôtel De Ville and the Grand Palais. In addition to the spire the triangular detail of the adjacent building can also be noted on the stamp.



Also note that in upper right quadrant there is the heraldic prancing lion of Belgium likely to designate the nationality of the stamp given that there is no other mention of Belgium. (Similar to the icon of QEII on modern UK stamps). (suggested in an earlier post by Puzzler)


THE DOMINICAL LABEL

There is a label attached to the bottom of the stamp which reads

NE PAS LIVRER LE DIMANCHE
NIET BESTILLIN OP ZONDAG
-French and Flemish for "not to be delivered on Sunday"


Dominical label (tablet): a small label attached by perforation to the bottom of some Belgium stamps stating "Do not deliver on Sunday".
-Defined by Ask Phil of www.collectorsclubchicago.com

Note the excellent blog entry at stamps of distinction on the Dominical Label -
www.stampsofdistinction.com/...-labels.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.stampsofdistinction.com/...-labels.html
(thanks to lithograving for noting the article in an earlier post)

I came into a boatload of this stamp and wanted to do some research to help me sell them. Much thanks to the responses on threads I started and the contrbutions made on other topics as searched.

The design lends a certain "...or else" quality to the message on the dominical label, no?

Right as in - deliver on Sunday and St.Mike will catch up with you!

Delhi: am impressed. Nicely done!

I just noticed the links in this post aren't working - I'll try and read up on how to correct them.

The collectors club link should be .org, I believe.

http://collectorsclubchicago.org/

and the proper link to the domincals blog post as Stamps of Distinction can be found by querying Dominicals

Okay so here's my scan of the good sheet. That I've been a little afraid to touch so far. Any thoughts on what the markings on the bottom are (close up a little further below)- red blob, DEPOT 1897 Atelier du Timbre. Google translates as STAMP WORKSHOP - but I'm not sure what it indicates here. Comapny name?




here is the closeup