Austria -Charity Stamp

new page for my collection ----this set is almost always misidentifed as to why it was issued .

These are some of the few "stamps" with the image of the Empress Elizabeth, nicknamed "Sisi". She was a reluctant Empress and a fascinating person very similar in some ways to Princess Diana although very much more a private person. She was assasinated in 1898 in Geneva by an Italian anarchist. I had the privilege of touring the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg in Vienna last fall as well as Schoenbrunn Palace where the Imperial family spent their summers and I got a good sense of the life style experienced by this very privileged family. The design of the stamps is taken from a photgraph of her around the time of her marriage to Franz Joseph when she was still very young. Thanks to Floortrader for posting these; I will look for them for my Austrian collection.

Here are a few more varieties from my collection

Nice collection ,never seen those different types.

I believe the design of the stamp is taken from a photograph of her in 1867, when she became Queen of Hungary. She was married in 1854.

Thanks to floortrader and Timm for showing these
interesting items.
Any chance for a large scan of a single one?

I would like to see the names on the lower border (designer & engraver ?)
Also were they printed engraved or what is more probable typography.

I have just one of these stamps:





I scanned it at 1200 and I can read:

"JOS·URBAN" on the left of the stamp and "F·SCHIRNBÖGE" (the last letter is hard to read) ont the right. Hope it helps.

Thanks Cursus

So it looks like Josef Urban was the designer and Ferdinand Schirnböck the engraver.
Stamp appears to printed typography.

Schirnböck of course was the master engraver of Austrian postage stamps until his death in 1930.

Josef Urban, immigrated to the United States in 1912 to become the art director of the Boston Opera Company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Urban


Here is a bit about the labels http://db.kelleherauctions.com/php/...633&lot=2350

Couple of questions:
1. Does anyone know why these cinderellas were issued so long after Sisi's death. As a young woman, she was immensely popular like Diana but I would have thought her memory would have faded by 1906-1913.
2. Any one know where the complete set could be purchased? I looked on ebay but could find only one or two listings of a small number of the varieties.

Really?
Elizabeth was assassinated in 1898. You mention her popularity lasting until at least 1913. That's about 15 years.
Diana's been gone 16 years this August. Never under estimate the public's ability to hold on to a fairy tale.

You probably won't find a complete set for sale anywhere. I've been collecting these for over 40 years and am still missing one.

The four examples in the first post are not form 1906 or 1908 but from 1913 and are very common; they sell for $1 to $2 for the four stamps.

The 1913 Dark Green color variety is very scarce.

All of the other varieties are very scarce to rare!

She was VERY popular in Austria, and especially in the Hungarian kingdom. She was politically active and she influenced the 1867 reconciliation bw. Austria and the hungarians after the 1848 revolution. Even today she is considered an icon in Hungary. Quote from wikipedia article:


The frustration of the hungarians after the surpressed 1848-49 revolution was imense, but Sissi`s expressed love for them will never be forget.
Hungarian Red Cross cinderella, 1939, second stamp portraying Sissi



She also appears on 1996 Hungarian Europa-stamp (set of 2 stamps, second with Sissi).
Several films were made about her. Last film about her it`s a 2009 TV mini-series (austrian-italian coproduction).

She apparently spent a lot of time in Hungary and felt it her duty to become fluent in the Hungarian language. I was also in Budapest last fall and stayed at the Hilton Hotel near the Imperial Palace. While we walked all around the Palace, we didn't tour inside which I now regret. It is surprising to me that her portrait doesn't appear on many (if any) regular postage stamps of any of the countries which made up the Austro-Hungarian Empire while there are dozens of Franz Joseph's phiz. Even Queens Alex, Mary and Elizabeth (Queen Mother) appeared on some Commonwealth issues.

Not at home now ,travelling.-----The stamps were issued by a hospital for fund raising.They are the second issue for funds ,after Denmark issued the first T.B. stamps,not sure of the date but it was a fund raiser for T.B.,.....

A classic cinderella, showing the very high skills of the artists and engravers of that time in Vienna. One of the most lovely stamps ever produced, IMHO.