Collecting By Engraver

Rein, thanks for posting that list.

I see that cicero's sources are the ETB's = Ersttagsblätter =
first day sheets.

My old 1991/92 Michel Deutschland still listed the engravers
together with the designers.

To my great disappointment when I bought the 2005/2006 catalogue
I found that the engravers had been scratched and I haven't
bought another Michel Deutschland since then.

If these catalogues keep on removing important information
then what's the sense in buying them?

Martin,

Seeing more recent stamps enlisted and the prices going down...

groetjes, Rein

Thanks Jorgesurcl for the 1911 stamp. I've just added some of that set to the database and my catalogue does not give any details on that set. If you know the designer or details on any of the others in that set I'd be very happy to hear them.

Someone offered me their Michel catalogue to look up some details but when we looked we had the same unpleasant surprise as lithograving. There are so many new stamps that the catalogues are bursting at the seams so dropping some information must seem like a solution. Now I know to look for an older copy.

I recently went to an auction where our club combined with another. There were a couple of those folders that nobody seems to like but stamp authorities keep producing. Nobody was interested and as they only had a reserve of two dollars I put my hand up. They sat on my desk for months.

For the last two weeks my internet has been down so it seemed like a good time to clear up a bit and I found the folders under a heap of other things. Inside were many sets of stamps including two beautiful engraved sets that I'll show in a moment.

I was not interested in the other sets so I put them in our club auction as individual sets. The same people were there who had rejected the folders but now I have two engraved sets plus thirty dollars in my pocket to spend on more stamps. Life is strange
sometimes. Here is the first group, all by Martin Morck.

The second group are as good as any I've seen and are by Lars Sjööblom.

Sjööblom is a magnificent nature engraver! I love his work.

Me too and there is no better way to see it than in isolation

2002 Astrid Lindgren issue. Scott #2431d - Engraved portrait from the souvenir sheet.



There is a little bit from some of the best recent engravers on this 2000 Childrens Toys issue. Scott #2400.



2007 Carl von Linne pane Scott #2561

Ah, yes,those sheetlets are beautiful, aren't they?! Here are some more of Sjööblom's work, from 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Alfred Cossmann (1870-1951) was an Austrian engraver who is credited with the revival of the art of copper engraving in Austria. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Cossmann, designed by Adalbert Pilch, engraved by Alfred Nefe, and issued by Austria on October 2, 1970, plus an image of an Ex Libris bookplate engraved by Alfred Cossmann.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892-1944) an American corporate lawyer and a "dark horse" candidate who became the Republican Party nominee for president in 1940, but lost the election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Here is an image of a pair of stamps featuring a portrait of Willkie, designed by Chris Calle, engraved by Thomas R. Hipschen, and issued by the USA on February 16, 1992 as one of the "Great Americans" series, Scott No. 2192, plus a photograph of Wenell Willkie which may have been the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Anthony and Adrian thanks for showing those
postal art prints.

Just shows there are still master
engravers at work but I also credit Sweden
Post for sticking with engraved stamps and for their
highest quality printing which they have
achieved over the decades.

Adrian,you mention on your Stamp Engravers blog that
the Astrid Lindgren print that Anthony posted was a Christmas gift.
Was that gifted to all subscribers of new issues?

I wish they had given me gifts like that when I was
buying their stamps year after year in the seventies
and early eighties.

As far as I know, Swedish Post started issuing Christmas gifts in the late 1980s although their first gifts consisted of folders with cancelled existing stamps only. I think the first souvenir sheet dates from 1993.

Also I'm not sure whether all subscribers got these. there seem to be more than one sheet around per year, so there could have been gifts for various types of customers?

I noticed for example that the general Xmas gift for 2014 was the Tegner miniature sheet engraving, whereas buyers of the year book received an existing folder with Slania's gyrfalcon stamp.

Having bought the 2014 year book I sort of (but not wholeheartedly) share your view on Sweden Post's commendable stance with regard to recess-printed stamps although I must say that most of those are combination prints with quite a few engravings merely supporting the main design. The ones that are (mainly) engraved, however, are magnificent, I'll give them that.

This rather superb portrait was engraved by Jean de Vos, I have no problem with that.

The designer listed on a lot of websites (that are usually accurate) is Frans Lauwers. My problem arises when I go to add this to the database is that Gibbons lists it as A. Lauwers and also lists several other stamps under that name.

Are A. Lauwers and Frans Lauwers different people? If so, what does the A. stand for. I certainly can't find him/her on Google.

I seem to come across this sort of thing all the time, for instance, I've pretty well decided that E.R.M.Jones, who engraved for Australia, preferred to use his third name, which was Murray.

As far as I can tell, there was no other Jones working for Australia at the time so the stamps attributed to M. Jones are most likely done by E.R.M.Jones. All I need is some proof.

jjarmstrong47, on pages 130 and 142 you can find some information on stamps of this set.

Meanwhile here's another one :

1911 - Gral.Bernardo O'Higgins
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved by HARRY P. DAWSON
Frame & lettering engraved by GEORGE H.SEYMOUR

I haven't posted anything for awhile on this thread
partly because I'm running out of material to show
but also I don't want to duplicate what has already been posted.

I know I haven't posted this one yet.

Also I want to see how well the engraving shows using
the Image Optimizer here and whether I should use it
instead of Photobucket.


Austria 1958

Scott 632

Engraver :Herbert Toni Schimek (1905 - 1982)