Collecting By Engraver

Zbigniew Kowalski (1928- ) engraved stamps for his native Poland during the mid-1960s. Here are images of five examples of his work.

- nethryk

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, designed by Polish graphic artist Stefan Malecki (1924-2012), and issued on May 5, 1964, Scott No. 1229.


Polish soldiers crossing the Oder River, designed by Stefan Malecki after a painting by Polish artist Stanislaw Zoltowski (1914-2004), and issued on November 16, 1964, Scott No. 1274.


Merchant carrack, 15th century, designed by Stefan Malecki, and issued on January 1, 1965, Scott No. 1306.


The yacht Amethyst sailing on a Masurian lake, designed by Polish artist Tadeusz Michaluk (1938- ), and issued on September 15, 1966, Scott No. 1441.


Plan of Biskupin Iron Age settlement, 2500 BC, designed by K. Tarkowska, and issued on December 10, 1966, Scott No. 1463.

Thanks Nethryk and Adrian. It seems there is a great need for literature on these companies. The in-house engravers don't seem to get much credit while the designer is usually named. I have a lot of trouble with the American Bank Note Company and the British American Banknote Company for the same reasons.

PANAMA 1936 - IV Spanish-American Postal Congress
La Pollera (Traditional costume)

Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved by Edwin Gunn (1876-1940)

I have just added some information on Czechoslovakia's Mlada Fronta souvenir sheets on my site/blog. They would form a lovely collection combined with the stamps they celebrate. Here is my current favourite: the 1983 sheetlet, engraved (as is the stamp) by Ladislav Jirka.

jjarmstrong47 wrote :




Unitrade catalogue generally shows the engravers who worked on
BABN Co. Canadian stamps.

Love those Polish ships.

Beauty of the day (and question of the day):
Portugal, 1924, the 4e50 value from the set marking the 400th birth anniversary of the poet Camoens. The stamp is engraved by George R. Fairweather and depicts Camoens' tomb.



My question also deals with Fairweather, or rather the Fairweathers. Has the uncertainty about whether W. G. Fairweather actually engraved the 1925 Northern Rhodesia definitives ever been solved?

Both Stanley Gibbons and Robson Lowe's Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps mention him as the engraver, but in 'The Die Proofs of Waterlow & Sons', it is mentioned that he designed the set and that there was also an engraver named Fairweather employed by Waterlow & Sons at that same time. In Hessler's 'The International Engraver's Line' there is also only a mention of W.G. Fairweather having designed the set.

So it may well be that the stamps were actually engraved by this other Fairweather, him being the George R. Fairweather who also engraved the Portugal stamp above. Especially because this George was the chief vignette engraver of Waterlow & Sons at the time.

What are the chances, eh, of having two Fairweathers employed at the same time!

I have just uploaded a short biography on Vaclav Fajt on my own website so I thought I'd better show some of his work here as well. Two nature stamps, one from 1983 Czechoslovakia,



and one from 1996 Czech Republic.

CHILE 1901 - Telegraph stamp
Portrait of Pedro de Valdivia

Printed by Waterlow & Sons
Vignette engraved by Herbert Bourne (Staffordshire, England 1825 - 13 Nov. 1907)



In 1902 a similar stamp was issued, printed by American Bank Note Co., but with larger portrait of Valdivia.

Not bad eh? For a man who is famously quoted as never having engraved a satisfactory portrait of The Queen!
We're talking Nigel Alan Dow here, of course, and I've just uploaded a short biography of him on my blog, which you'll find when googling a bit.

US Scott #1452, 1972 Wolf Trap Farm, Virginia commemorative, designed by Howard Koslow. I've always been fond of the warm glow of the lights on this colorful and complex stamp.

I've been asked to write a column on a stamp engraver with a strong World War One link. I don' think there's that many and the only one I can think of is Ferdinand Schirnböck, who engraved loads of stamps for the ailing Austro-Hungarian Empire and it friends during WWI.

Can anyone else suggest any other engravers?

Although Austrian artist Otto Stefferl (1931- ) is primarily known to collectors for his skills as a stamp designer, he also engraved several stamps for his native country. Here are images of four examples of Otto Stefferl's engraving abilities, plus a photo of the artist/engraver by B. Denscher.

- nethryk

Ich bin ein grafisches Fossil!


Baroness Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916), Austrian novelist and poet, designed by Adalbert Pilch, and issued on March 11, 1966 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the writer's death, Scott No. 758.


Ballet dancer, designed by Otto Stefferl, and issued on February 15, 1967 to commemorate the centenary of the "The Blue Danube" waltz by Austrian composer Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), Scott No. 786.


Dr. August Neilreich (1803-1871), Austrian botanist and lawyer, designed by Otto Stefferl, and issued on June 1, 1971 to commemorate the centenary of the scientist's death, Scott No. 899.


The "Prodigal Son," designed by M. Fuchs, combined engraved and photogravure, and issued on June 17, 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, held at Lake Ossiach, Scott No. 1643.

Quote: "I believe we haven't had any Russian engravers yet on this thread.
Here are a couple issued in 1965, designed by A. I. Kalashnikov
but I don't know who engraved them."


I've been reading back through the earlier pages and saw two stamps to which Lithograving has added the above note. The 12k is of "A Watchman On A Collective Farm" from a painting by P. Fedotov and was engraved by I. Mokrousov.

The 16k which depicts "The Proposal of Marriage" after a painting by P. Fedotov, was engraved by A Sapronov. Both celebrate famour Russian Painter's Anniversaries.

I realised a while back that a lot of older catalogues have information that has since been squeezed out by the sheer bulk of modern issues. Whenever I find one, I always buy these old gems, usually for just a few dollars. As I don't collect modern issues other than engraved ones, they have many uses. The above information came from Gibbons Europe3 Q-Z which has stamps up until 1972.

Sorry! Those were on page 22