Collecting By Engraver

I do collect by engraving company sometimes such as U.N. stamps. I collect only those that were printed by the American Bank Note Company (ABNC), the Canadian Bank Note Company (CBNC), the British American Bank Note Company (BABNC), etc.

Thanks for that, lithograving!

I will now try and post my very first image here!



It seems to work!

It's a marginal block of one of the Swiss Landscapes definitives of 1936-1948, all engraved by Karl Bickel Senior, who has also signed it in the margin.

I quite like Bickel's work and will hopefully be posting a few more items here in the days to come.

Great start Adrian and the fact that it was signed by
Bickel makes it that much more interesting.

Just to let you know there is on Page 47 a
list of engravers and their stamps which have
been shown on this thread.
But sad to say the last update was almost 2 years ago
and is therefore quite incomplete.

Hi, Adrian, and welcome to this thread famous for the magnificent blow-ups of finely engraved stamps (sorry to say: myself just an admirer of them, not a contibutor of images).

I collect selected engraved stamps as part of the cultural heritage of the artist's country and Karl Bickel's Swiss landscapes in this particular small format, engraving style and quality printing in quality colours represent true gems to me.

Great start, indeed. Thank you.

Some of the 1936 Landascapes definitives were Bickel's adaptations of the 1934 definitives created by Eugen Jordi (1894 - 1983) and printed in typography.

By the way, as for the above 1948 design, see a similar one adapted from a postcard photo for a 1929 Czechoslovak stamp by Karl Seizinger: The (High) Tatras on http://www.cpslib.org/aip/1929-255.htm

Thanks!

Yes, I have been enjoying the blown up images in this thread. Is that done by bypassing the 'don't post pics that are too large' rule? Mine didn't look that blown up (I used the Free Image Optimizer) but maybe that was because it was a larger block rather than a single stamp.

Glad you like the Swiss Landscape definitives, Florian! I collected these long before I started collecting by engraver, because, like you say, they are true gems.

I have just uploaded my column on Rudolf Ciganik on my blog and will show you some of his stamps here as well. In 2002, he designed and engraved the joint issue of Slovakia and China. The Slovakian version, especially, shows Ciganik's style very much. It looks incredibly overcrowded with windy lines, but it's still a very moody, very beautiful image he creates, I think.



Apparently, the Chinese were so happy with the issue that they even placed a plaque mentioning it at the Handan Terraces shown on the stamp.



Anyway, hope these two images come out a bit bigger than my first one!

Arild Yttri (1958- ) is a Norwegian artist and engraver who trained at the Bergen Arts and Crafts School (1979-83) and the National Art Academy (1983-86). Here are images of five examples of Arild Yttri's design and engraving work on postage stamps printed by combined engraved and lithography, and issued by Norway.

- nethryk

The two stamps in a set commemorating the 1,000th anniversary of Christianity in Norway, issued on May 8, 1995, Scott Nos. 1094 & 1095, Facit Nos. 1225 & 1226:

Old Moster Church, c. 1100.


Slettebakken Church, Bergen, 1970.


Mail boat, issued on April 20, 1998, Scott No. 1189, Facit No. 1327.


"The Pioneer," a statue in Oslo by Danish-born Norwegian sculptor Per Palle Storm (1910-1994), issued on April 12, 1999 to commemorate the centenary of the Confereration of Trade Unions, Scott No. 1218, Facit No. 1356.


Union with Denmark: King Christian IV Speciedolar, mining, and map of Kongsberg, issued on June 11, 1999 as one of four stamps in a Norwegian historical set, Scott No. 1226, Facit No. 1359.

News reached the Stamp Magazine forum the other day about Alceo Quieti, the Italian engraver, who died earlier this month at the age of 92. I've translated an Italian newspaper clipping which has been circulating, on my blog.
To be honest with you, I hardly have any stamps engraved by him, but here's one from San Marino, the 1969 Christmas issue:

Thanks Adrian about informing us about the passing of
Alceo Quieti.

As you say he appears to have been more active in engraving
stamps for San Marino and the Vatican than for Italy
but all of them were printed by L'Istituto Poligrafico Stato-Officina Carte Valori, (State Printer) in Rome.

In 1959 Alceo Quieti engraved one in the set of 5 values issued by Italy for the War of Independence.

Michel 1048.



1960 he engraved one out of the 4 engraved stamps
for the 196o Rome Olympics.
Statue of a Roman consul

Scott 801




1963 Scott 870

100th birth anniversary for Gabriele d'Annunzio poet & politician

Here are some more Italian and Vatican stamps engraved
by Alceo Quieti


ITALY 1974 Scott 1138

Norman Art in Sicily





ITALY 1975 Scott 1182

500th Birth Anniversary of Michelangelo





VATICAN 1958 Michel 296

200th Birth Anniverasry of Antonio Canova, sculptor

Portrays Pope Clemens XIII





VATICAN 1964 Michel 454

400th Death Anniversary of Michelangelo Buonarroti

Self portrait

In tribute to the late Alceo Quieti, and in addition to the other images of stamps of his that I have posted on page 43 of this thread and elsewhere in the topical section of this board, here are three more examples of his great engraving skill.

- nethryk

Saint Antoninus preaching, designed by A. Grassellini, and issued by Vatican City on February 29 as one of a set of four stamps commemorating the 500th anniversary of the saint's death, Scott No. 272.


Pope Paul VI blessing students and farmers, designed by Casimira Dabrowska, and issued by Vatican City on May 3, 1966 as one of a set of six stamps commemorating the millennium of Christianity in Poland, Scott No. 438.


And finally, one of my favorites:

Mother and child, designed and engraved by Alceo Quieti after a detail from a painting by Italian artist Masaccio (1401-1428), and issued by Italy on October 18, 1978, Scott No. 1340, plus an image of the original artwork.

Nice ones from Alceo Quieti,thanks for posting them nethryk.

Would you know if Italy Scott No. 1340 issued in 1978 was
his last work?

lithograving - Thanks! And, of course, ditto...

To the best of my knowledge, Mother and Child (Scott No. 1340) was the last stamp that Alceo Quieti engraved which was issued by Italy. However, I believe that the final stamp of Quieti's career was issued by Vatican City on March 22, 1979, and featured a portrait of Pope John Paul II performing benediction (Scott No. 646), combined engraved and lithography, as one of a set of three stamps commemorating the inauguration of John Paul II's pontificate. Unfortunately, I do not yet have an example of that stamp in my collection to scan and post here. But for your reference, here is a link to a webpage in iBolli's useful online catalog of Italian stamps on which an image of this Vatican City stamp appears: http://www.ibolli.it/php/em-vatican...edicente.php

- nethryk

I've just uploaded my column on Albert Decaris on my blog and thought I'd show some of his work here as well. This here is his own engraved definitive, the Gallic Cock:



Decaris also engraved the Marianne de Cocteau. His own Marianne, unfortunately, was not recess-printed, which may well have precipitated its early demise?



His style is so incredibly recognisable, even on his last ever stamp from 1985.



Decaris is, to my knowledge anyway, the only French engraver to be honoured with a stamp issue. In 2001, Claude Jumelet designed and engraved this stamp to mark the centenary of Decaris' birth:

My beauty of the day: Monaco, 1937: the re-issued Arms definitives, but now hand-engraved and recess-printed rather than printed by letterpress. The engraver was Antonin Delzers. Look at the beautiful softness of the engraving, and it works so well in this particular colour. A real gem, I think.

My beauty of the day: Netherlands 1951. Willem van Dijk engraved a couple of sets in the late 1940s / early 1950s for the Netherlands. I like these especially, probably because they're so non-Dutch, if you see what I mean. Part of the 'Cultural and Social Relief Funds' set (known as Summer Stamps in the Netherlands), this 5c+3c depicts Bergh Castle, one of the largest castles in the Netherlands.