Hands On Stamps

Take a look at the page 142 post on the engraver thread by Galeoptix! The Brabo Fountain sculpted by Jef Lambeau (1887). The warrior Silvius Brabo has just severed the hand of the Giant Antigonus and is casting it into the River Schelde! Thanks Galeoptix

Just to pick up on Nethryk's sub-topic of protective gestures a couple of days ago, here are a few: social security, human rights and a safe workplace.

It's 9-11 today and it might be a fitting day to contribute a beautiful stamp with nothing on it but hands praying for peace (PAX). It was issued on the 9th of May 1945, at the close of WWII. I haven't yet found it on the engraver's thread, but I'm sure the engraver Bickel is represented there. (Does Nethryk have more information?)

Mona Lisa can be seen on so many stamps, but her beautiful hands are rarely shown in detail, so these are certainly worth mentioning.

Kris Rascher - Esteemed SCF member "lithograving" posted some information about Swiss artist and engraver Karl Bickel, and images of some of his work, on July 30 and 31, 2011 in the "Collecting by Engraver" thread (page 32), but unfortunately those images are currently unavailable for viewing (apparently lithograving is on sabbatical again and his Photobucket account is adrift). However, there are other examples of Karl Bickel's engraving work included in posts in that thread and elsewhere in SCF, some of which are mine. If you do an SCF search in "Topical Stamp Collecting" for "Bickel" along with my name as the member, you will be shown a list of the threads in which these images appear.

Here is an image of a stamp depicting hands reaching for the FAO emblem, designed by Israeli artist Maxim Shamir (1910-1990), printed by photogravure (Thomas De La Rue & Co., Ltd.), and issued by Togo on March 21, 1963 as one of a set of four similar stamps publicizing the Food and Agriculture Organization's "Freedom from Hunger" campaign, Scott No. 445.

- nethryk

Hi Nethryk, Glad to see you are looking at some hands! It was getting a bit lonely here. Thanks for your info, but when I search as you suggested, I get so many pages that it's quite daunting. (I've been going thru the engraver thread but regret very much that I can't see any of Lithograving's pictures for lack of a photobucket. I have no idea how to get there.) And thanks for the three colored hands; I'll be picking up that sub-topic soon.
This time I'm continuing with the sub-topic of protective gesture, in this case protection of nature/animals.

Poland has a few hands on stamps.

Issued Feb. 9 1956. Scott 717, 718
First World Chess Championship of the Deaf, Feb. 9-23 1956.

Singapore 2013 Greetings in sign language.

Singapore 2014 Singapore Stamp Exhibition 2015 souvenir sheet. The stamps show 4 hands of different skin colours grasping each other, signifying racial harmony.

Those Singapore stamps are a great addition to the thread, Tantsbsac! The design on you exhibition stamp is also seen on other stamps such as the German one calling attention to aid and cooperation for development (Entwicklungszusammenarbeit) in needy countries. The graphic design here was done by Albrecht Ade, printed in offset. An almost identical design appeared on the French stamp against racism in 1982, but I don't know who drew it. The Bangladeshi stamp is particularly appropriate for the UN's 5oth anniversary because even a child's hand is included. (I'll see what else I have on sign language, it's a great sub-topic.)

Here are a few of my sign language items, adding to the ones contributed by Tantsbsac and Polska. The "International Year of the Disabled" was in 1981. The Isle of Man stamp is a Christmas issue which carries the emblem of the Peace Dove of the UN (1986). On the stamp from Bangladesh the people shown are actually signing Bangladesh! The Chinese one is a charity stamp contributing to the Welfare Fund for the Disabled (1985). The Danish sign is the D for deaf and Denmark, whereas the British signs on the maxicard spell out the word Deaf (also issued in 1981). The Canadian sign shows that even a short phrase can be expressed with one sign. The East German stamp of 1978 commemorates 200 years of learning sign language.

Clasped hands, designed by Albert Decaris, engraved by Charles-Paul Dufresne, and issued for use in Saarland Protectorate on April 1, 1948, Scott No. 188, Michel No. 239.

- nethryk

N, Thanks for the great Saarpost! The Saarland (not to mention the Saargebiet of earlier years) is quite a complex area to collect because there are so many changes from the German to the French and back again. Your stamp has the centimes which were first issued on the date you cite and remained till 1956, but already in October of 1948 it was no longer Saarpost but simply Saar, as seen on Dürer's hands (which by the way really were his hands; 1955). It's a charity stamp for the Volkshilfe, or Help for the needy. (I picked up the scan from Wikip because my little machine can't possibly do the stamp justice and I wasn't able to find it on the engrave's thread, although I'm sure it's there.)K

Kris Rascher -Thanks for the additional specialist information about my Saar "clasped hands" stamp. On October 16, 2013, I posted in the SCF "Art & Paintings" thread (page 15) images of the three Saar semi-postal (charity) stamps (including the "praying hands") in the set reproducing drawings by Albrecht Dürer. I did not know that the praying hands were his own - that's quite a trick!

Here is an image of an airmail stamp depicting men of various races, an allegorical handshake, and the United Nations emblem, designed and engraved by Pierre Forget, and issued by Dahomey (Benin) on June 26, 1965 to publicize the UN's International Cooperation Year, Scott No. C27.

- nethryk

Hi, The UN's International Cooperation Year (1965) was one of its first international years and many countries issued stamps for it, some with the UN logo, some without (on page one there are a few more examples). They are generally quite similar, but in my opinion the ones on which the hands are of different color are also the ones with the clearest statement, and the Dahomey one even has faces on it. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of the International Years, Days and even Decades here; the UN site Observances has them all listed.