Collecting By Engraver

jjarmstrong47, I also treasure older catalogues which have way
more info that I'm interested in.

Then again some collectors don't care who designed,engraved
or printed any particular stamp nor do they care re
printing quantities.

65170/Glenn, thanks for that info regarding the Goebel M4
and the pics.

Actually when I checked the Stamp Production Process Forum
on the Goebel Printing Presses thread I had mentioned the
Danish M4 press.

M4 Since 1981 Steel engraving 6 colours, Photogravure 1 colour, Offset 4 colours.

https://goscf.com/t/36300


Jay Smith also writes about the M4 and Test/Dummy stamps
on his site.


http://www.jaysmith.com/Lists/Denma...ngraved.html

I find it odd though that the Danish Printer only issued
it's first combination litho & engraved stamp in January 1984
(Scott 749) even though they bought the press in 1980.
Leafing through Scott/Denmark I fail to see any use made of the
photogravure station of this press.
The last Danish photogravure stamp was in 1977 Scott 597-98 and I believe they were printed by the Bank of Finland.

The next two by Gandon are in my opinion the most beautiful
engraved stamps ever issued.
They are as the French would say magnifique.

FRANCE 1947

12th UPU Congress, Paris

Scott C22

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Gandon

FRANCE 1949

ITT Conference, Paris

Scott C28

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Gandon

FRANCE 1946

Personalities of the 15th Century

Scott B207 - 212

François Villon 1431-1489. French poet of the late Middle Ages

Designer & Engraver : Albert Decaris




Jean Fouquet 1415-1480, French painter

Designer : Pierre Gandon

Engraver : Jules Piel




Philippe de Commynes 1447-1511 ,writer and diplomat

Designer & Engraver : Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue




Jeanne d'Arc 1412-1431, Martyr, saint and military leader

Designer & Engraver : Albert Decaris




Jean Gerson 1363-1429 French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet

Designer & Engraver : Achille Ouvré




Charles VII 1403-1461 French king, under whose reign the English were expelled from France, thanks partly to Jeanne d'Arc.

Designer : Paul-Pierre Lemagny

Engraver : Charles-Paul Dufresne

FRANCE 1949

Personalities of the 18th Century

Scott B238 - B243

Montesquieu 1689-1755 French political philosopher

Designer : Paul-Pierre Lemagny

Engraver : Charles-Paul Dufresne



Voltaire 1694-1778, writer, historian, and philosopher

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin
After a painting by Maurice-Quentin de Latour




Watteau 1684-1721,French painter influential in the Rococo style.

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer





Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 1707-1788 was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste.

Designer & Engraver : Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue




Joseph-François, Marquis Dupleix 1697 - 1763, Governor-General of French India

Designer & Engraver : Raoul Serres




Anne Robert Jacques Turgot 1727 - 1781, French economist and statesman

Designer : After a painting by Joseph, Baron Ducreux

Engraver : Achille Ouvré

FRANCE 1950

Personalities from the French Revolution.

Scott B249 - B254

André Chénier 1762-1794, poet, executed by the guillotine.

Designer : after an engraving by Joseph-Benoît Suvée

Engraver : Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue




Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825 a French painter in the Neoclassical style, was arrested and jailed but survived the Terror

Designer & Engraver : René Cottet
after a self portrait by David




Lazare Carnot 1753-1823 the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer



Danton 1759-1794, was a leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution. Executed by the guillotine.

Designer : Paul-Pierre Lemagny

Engraver : Charles-Paul Dufresne




Maximilien Robespierre 1758-1794, responsible for the Reign of Terror.
Executed by the guillotine.

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin




Lazare Hoche 1768-1797,general of the Revolutionary army.

Designer : After a portrait by Joseph Boze

Engraver : Achille Ouvré

I've always admired the 19th century Newspaper stamps issued in the US, but so far their engravers had eluded me. Until earlier this week I bumped into a signed die proof!



As you can see, the proof is signed by both Lyman F Ellis and George Frederick Cumming Smillie. Ellis being a letter engraver, it will be clear that Smillie engraved the vignette. I presume that Ellis did the frame as well, as those are usually done by someone other than the vignette engraver.

Anyways, I'm chuffed to bits and now only need to know who did the other 12 designs...

FRANCE 1951

Personalities of the 19th Century

Scott B258 - B263

Alfred de Musset 1810-1857,French dramatist, poet, and novelist

Designer : Paul-Pierre Lemagny

Engraver : Charles-Paul Dufresne



Eugène Delacroix 1799-1863, French painter

Designer & Engraver : Henry Cheffer
after a self portrait by Delacroix



Gay-Lussac 1778-1850, French chemist and physicist

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Munier



Robert Surcouf 1773-1827 French privateer

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin



Talleyrand 1754-1838 , French statesman

Designer & Engraver : Achille Ouvré
after a painting by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon




Napoleon Bonaparte 1769-1821 French Emperor

Designer & Engraver : Albert Decaris
after a tableau by Antoine-Jean Gros

FRANCE 1953

Personalities from the 12th to the 20th Century

Scott B276 - B281

Saint Bernard 1091-1153, French abbot

Designer & Engraver : Jean Pheulpin



Olivier de Serres 1539-1619, author and agronomist

Designer & Engraver : Raoul Serres



Jean-Philippe Rameau 1683-1764, French composer of the Baroque era.

Designer & Engraver : Pierre Munier





Gaspard Monge 1746-1818, French mathematician

Designer : André Spitz

Engraver : René Cottet




Jules Michelet 1798-1874 , French historian

Designer & Engraver : Charles Mazelin




Maréchal Lyautey 1854-1934 , French Army general and colonial administrator

Designer : André Spitz

Engraver : Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue

Lithographing, nice sets from France. Some of them especially done by Mazelin, Rene, Munier, Pheulpin, Decaris are so detailed and beautiful, I just can't get my eyes off.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks scinde_dawk, glad you enjoyed the scans.

Yes those were an amazingly talented group of engravers.

The original Die [Apprentices Test Piece] for the similar Luxembourg Charlotte Issue, was loaned to me by Bradbury, Wilkinson. 10 perfect copies only were allowed to be printed.

Welcome Hotplate. I look forward to seeing what else you have to show and whether you can fill any of the blanks in our information.

I love those French engravers. It is amazing what you can achieve when quality is more important than dollars/time. Alas, those days are gone.

I've been looking at the Chinese engravers from the 1950s. Both the People's Republic and Taiwan produced some pretty impressive stamps. I suppose that, back then, it was a way of announcing your arrival to the world. Here are some of the CPR ones. I'll add some from Taiwan when I get to them.

The Chinese official sites usually only give you a list of designers and engravers that worked on a set without detailing the individual input. This is one of a set of two and has two engravers working on it. There is no way to know whether they did one each or shared the work on both.


Lenin speaking. Designed by Liu Shuoren and engraved by Kong Shaohui and Tang Linshen.SG 1627, Scott 224.


Stalin inspecting a hydro-elecricity plant. Designed by Shao Bolin and engraved by Li Manceng (sometimes seen as Manzeng) SG 1636, Scott 233.


20th anniversary of The Long March: Capture of Lu Ting Bridge (spelling as shown on Chinese official website - Wikipedia has it as Luding).
Three designers worked on the two stamps in this set: Li Zongjin, Huang Pixing, Sun Chuanzhe. Engraved by Kong Shaohui. SG 1686, Scott 271.

The account of this battle in Wikipedia is quite fascinating and gives some insight into why the Red Army, fighting for a common cause were able to defeat Chiang, who also had to deal with the local warlords. Twenty two men crossed the bridge under fire. I very much doubt if one was carrying a flag.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battl...uding_Bridge

You do know how to make an entrance, HOTPLATE! Lovely item you show there. We've seen the actual stamp before (page 155 I believe) but are no closer to finding out who engraved it. You call it an Apprentices Test Piece. Do you have any more information on it? And do you know what happened to those 10 perfect copies?