Collecting By Engraver

nethryk - I was just going through some of the previous pages
admirining your multicolour French issues (France, Monaco, French colonies etc all printed by the same State Printer)
which made me think about other all engraved multioloured ones.
Looking back to the early sixties US Giori Press Printings
I appreciate them more now than I did at that time compared to lets say the French ones
which I thought were much finer in detail.
You have posted already quite a few but here are a couple I really like.


Scott 1318 - 5¢ Cherry Blossoms in D.C.- Jefferson Memorial - Designer: Gyo Fujikawa - Engraver: C. A. Brooks, issued 1966



Scott 1322 - 5¢ Mary Cassatt's The Boating Party - Designer: Robert J. Jones - Engraver: C. A. Brooks, issued 1966

lithograving - The terms "engraving" and "etching" are sometimes used almost synonymously by stamp collectors. I think that may be because the final products ("engravings," and "etchings") of the two different processes can, and often do, look quite similar, and also the processes are in fact sometimes used in combination in fine artwork. Also, the two different processes are often classified as "intaglio" techniques because they both involve removing material from the printing surface.

Here is my understanding of the differences between the two processes:

Engraving is the process by which a design is produced by cutting grooves into a hard, flat surface with hard steel tools (burins). The surface is usually some type of metal, and the object can be a decoration in itself, or it can be used to print images, called engravings, on paper.

Etching, on the other hand, uses strong acid to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design. The result can be used to make prints similar to engravings. It was an important method for creating the old master prints. It was also used to decorate armor, old guns, plates and cups.

I double-checked and found that Scott/Canada simply lists No. 601 as litho. & engraved, and No. 784 as photo. & engraved. There is no mention in Scott of an etching process being used in the production of these stamps. Does Unitrade provide any different information?

- nethryk

Gyo Fujikawa (1908–1998) was an American illustrator and children's book author. She also designed a few stamps for the USA, including the splendid "Plant for a Beautiful America" issue posted above by lithograving, plus one of my favorite stamps from that era, the U.S.- Japan Treaty centenary commemorative, engraved by Matthew D. Fenton (vignette) and Robert J. Jones (lettering), and issued on September 28, 1960, Scott No. 1158; here is an image of that stamp, which depicts cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument.

- nethryk

nethryk - What I should have said is that it appears to me like etching, since I have no proof that this technique was really used.


Thats why I put the question mark after On Scott 601 only Canada, $2, postes, postage are engraved/etched?

Unitrade lists it same as Scott --- engraved.

lithograving - Understood! I'm glad to know that Scott and Unitrade are in agreement on this. I'm also glad this point came up anyway, because it afforded a good opportunity to clarify the relevant terminology for any collectors out there who might have been hazy about the difference. - nethryk

Marie-Noëlle Goffin (1935- ) is an active French stamp designer and engraver whose first stamp for France was issued in 1976. Here are images of the six semi-postal stamps in a set that she both designed and engraved, and that was issued by France during 1982 to honor various famous Frenchmen.

- nethryk

Guillaume Postel, linguist, astronomer, Cabbalist, diplomat, professor, and religious universalist, issued on November 23, Scott No. B541, Y&T No. 2225.


Henri Mondor, physician, surgeon, and historian of French literature and medicine, issued on May 22, Scott No. B542, Y&T No. 2226.


André Chantemesse, bacteriologist and pathologist, issued on October 23, Scott No. B543, Y&T No. 2229.


Louis Pergaud, writer and soldier, issued on May 22, Scott No. B544, Y&T No. 2227.


Robert Debré, physician (pediatrician), issued on May 15, Scott No. B545, Y&T No. 2228.


Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, structural engineer and architect, issued on December 18, Scott No. B546, Y&T No. 2230.

I am continually amazed by what I learn here. Gyo Fujikawa is one of my favorite children's authors. I had NO idea she also designed stamps. Now I am off to find out all the ones she did. Thank you for the head's up!


Edited to add link: This is what I found- http://www.graphics-stamps.org/pgfujikawa.pdf

spanishmoss - You're welcome. BTW, in the annual Linn's Stamp News U.S. Popularity Polls taken of its readers, Gyo Fujikawa's U.S.-Japan Treaty stamp was voted the best commemorative stamp in 1960, and her Beautification stamp was voted best commemorative stamp in 1966. I guess that proves that we all have excellent taste.

- nethryk

Armandina Lozano (1952- ) is a Mexican-born artist and securities engraver who moved to California in 1983. She has engraved several postage stamps for the USA. Here is an image of a stamp engraved by Lozano that was printed by Ashton-Potter with neither a lithograving nor a photograving overlay to obscure its pristine beauty: Myron's Discobolus, issued on July 19, 1996, Scott No. 3087.

- nethryk

For the present I will wrap up this review of women stamp engravers with the letter "Z" for Wanda Morycinska-Zajdel (1950- ), a 1969 graduate of Poland's National Art School in Bydgoszcz. Here are images of three attractive monochrome postage stamps that she has engraved for Poland.

- nethryk

Two scenes from Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania , an epic poem (1834) by the Polish-Lithuanian poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855). This poem is recognized as the national epic of Poland, and it was made into a popular film in 1999.

Jankiel, a Jewish dulcimerist and ardent Polish patriot, playing "old Dabrowski's Mazurka."


Zofia and Tadeusz, betrothed after the peaceful resolution of a feud between their noble families.


Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy," issued on March 28, 2003, Scott No. 3670.

Georges Bétemps (1921-1992) designed and/or engraved over 1,500 stamps for France, its colonies, and other countries. He attended the Estienne School and the Schools of Fine Arts at Bordeaux and Paris, but his studies were interrupted in 1941 when he joined the French Resistance. Here are images of some stamps designed (except as noted) and engraved by Bétemps which demonstrate the depth and range of his skills.

- nethryk

Savannah Monitor, issued for use in French Equatorial Africa on May 2, 1955, Scott No. 188.


Man in headdress, issued for use in French Polynesia on November 3, 1958, Scott No. 186.


Harvester, issued by Mali on December 24, 1961, Scott No. 20.


André Paul Guillaume Gide, French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947, semi-postal stamp designed by Clément Serveau, and issued by France on May 17, 1969, Scott No. B431, Y&T No. 1594.


Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, and scene from his grand opera Samson et Dalila, issued by Monaco on January 18, 1972, Scott No. 819.


Catching Opah fish, illustration of a scene from Prince Albert I's book, "The Career of a Sailor," designed after a painting by artist Louis Tinayre (1861-1942), issued by Monaco on May 3, 1977, Scott No. 1058.


Beauty and the Beast, designed after an illustration by Paul Gustave Doré (1832-1883), French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor, of a scene from the fairy tale by Charles Perrault (1628-1703), issued by France on June 18, 1983, Scott No. 1867, Y&T No. 2265.


Amsterdam Albatross, airmail stamp issued for use in French Southern and Antarctic Territories on January 1, 1985, Scott No. C86.

Hey Litho. I love that Cherry blossom one. I don't remember ever seeing that in my US stuff.

Although I had no idea what his name was (nor did I even think of trying to find it out) during my boyhood in the 1950s, Bent Jacobsen was the engraver of a set of ten stamps issued by Denmark which inspired and were much coveted by me and my collector friends. Here are images of these stamps, which were issued to mark the millennial anniversary of the Danish crown.

- nethryk

Part 1, Scott Nos. 342-46.

Jellinge stone with Runic inscription, Jutland, issued on September 5, 1953.


Ground drawing of the Viking castle Trelleborg, Slagelse, Zealand, issued on November 13, 1953.


Our Lady Church in Kalundborg, Zealand, issued on November 13, 1953.


Nyborg Castle on Funen, issued on September 16, 1954.


The Goose Tower in Vordingborg, Zealand, issued on November 18, 1954.

Here are images of the rest of the stamps engraved by Bent Jacobsen in the Denmark millennial anniversary issue.

- nethryk

Part 2, Scott Nos. 347-51.

Spøttrup Manor, Skive, issued on November 18, 1954.


Ruin of Hammershus Castle on Bornholm, issued on April 21, 1955.


Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, issued on April 21, 1955.


Equestrian statue of Frederic V and Amalienborg Castel, Copenhagen, issued on September 3, 1955.


"The Brave Country Soldier," statue commemorating the war of 1848-1850 in Frederica, Jutland, issued on January 26,1956.

I love those Denmark issues! Stunning!