What Are These Artworks Of Proposed Stamps? Essays? Copies? Reprints??

I have these three images.The red Washington is on very heavy stock paper and the others are on good quality paper but not as heavy. All are 8 1/2" x 11" paper size. They are not engravings. Any value?

It would appear the tobacco images were part of a campaign to get the USPOD to issue a stamp to commemorate the anniversary of the commercialization of tobacco. Besides the photographic essays someone prepared, they went to the trouble of printing some stamps as well. Here's an example from my collection:




Do you happen to have any documentation which might have accompanied the two photographic essays?

I would be interested in the first two photos if you were looking to dispose of them. You can shoot me an email when you get a chance.

Can any one comment on the washington picture?

It's an illustration of Scott 65.

Here's an illustration of an essay from the Lakeshore collection auctioned by Siegel, lot 1099E described as "National Bank Note Co., 3c Black, First Design, Die Essay on India (65-E15c; formerly 56TC1). Reduced to stamp size, intense shade, filled thin at top, appears Fine"



Note that the finished stamp has extra ornamentations around the edges

I don't see the extra ornamentation on yours. Only that they are farther toward the center on the sides. but mine has balls in the corners and more elaborate corners and yours doesn't. Mine is also on a 8x11 inches heavy stock semi glossy paper. The image is around 6 x 9 inches. I noticed that there are several, I guess "secret marks" throughout the image, which makes me feel this was a proposed design compared to a enlarged copied design of the original. What was the purpose of this illustration? How many were made?

I have talked to Calvin Mitchell at the Smithsonian Postal Museum and he couldn't find anything to help on the Washington picture. He said the artwork is not the same as anything in their archive and the paper is too new to relate to the proper period for an essay. He suggested I talk to Thomas W. Horn, Director of Expertizing American Philatelic Society. No luck there either. He said: "Our best guess is that it is an illustration for the cover of a publication of some sort. It may have been done at a time when one could take a post office design (in this case Scott No. 79-E24 or 79-E25) and make some changes so that it was different from the originals and reproduce it." But he also said. "I do not have a date or print method in mind for this. It might be a publication cover or a giveaway produced by a dealer and we do not find anything in our records for it. I checked with our former library research person and he does not remember seeing anything like it when doing research over the years." So It is still a mystery since somebody went to a pretty good effort to create this. It came in an accumulation that was completed prior to 1960's. The printing detail is amazing and not a dot pattern. If anybody else has a suggestion I wold like to hear it!

So here is the latest on this picture. I took it to a printer who has been in business 45 years. He said the paper used is smooth card stock and the printing method used was offset. That being said, he said since this image was not a copy of a smaller image and then enlarged, he assumes it was drawn to this size or slightly smaller then enlarged. He said if this was a copy of a small picture (essay) and then enlarged you would definitely notice that. Also if it was part of an original that was enlarged and then redrawn he felt we should be able to identify that also. So what I was trying to determine is how much effort went into making this image and it seems like it took some time to make since it wasn't copy and paste. I also assume there should be others like this since they wouldn't have run just one since they would have had the cost of making a plate. Any other comments would be greatly appreciated! I guess then my main conclusion from all this, is this is not postal history but a piece of artwork done prior to 1960.

I just talked Siegel Auctions and no luck there either.