Collecting By Engraver

jjarmstrong47 - The above stamp was issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of the botanist Ladislav Josef Èelakovský (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladis...akovsk%C3%BD ) and the 50th anniversary of the Czech Botanical Society (see https://botanospol.cz/cs/node/32 and use Google Translate).

Neither the botanist Ladislav Josef Èelakovský (1834 - 1902) nor his son Ladislav František Èelakovský (1864-1916) played an important role in the foundation of the Society.

Its first deputy chairman, botanist Karel Domin 1882 - 1953 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Domin ), however, did. Before WWI, he took part in a botanical expedition to Java and Australia, which might be of interest to you.

Thanks Florian. As usual, Gibbons got it wrong. That makes much more sense now.

This thread seems to have been on holiday lately so I suppose everyone has been as busy as I have.

Czeslaw Slania and Thomas Hipschen were friends and there are a few photographs of them together at stamp exhibitions. Hipschen apparently "helped out" when there was an outcry over foreign engravers working on US stamps. The story is buried somewhere in this thread.

Their friendship was possibly based on mutual respect as both were superb engravers but was Slania a bad influence on his American friend?

After the kerfuffle over Kenneth Kipperman engraving a Star of David in the beard of the Bernard Revel stamp, the authorities took a closer look at the work of all their engravers.

They announced that Thomas Hipschen had hidden his name in the Stamp Collecting set. Slania was well known for doing this, in fact the same authorities believed that they could see his name in the grass of the WW1 veterans set, showing how paranoid they had really become. Or possibly that they had vivid imaginations.



With the Hipschen set though, they may have been correct. Here is one of the set.



Now if you look closely at the handle on the magnifying glass, those reflections do look suspiciously like letters forming his name.



My mother always told me that some of my friends were a bad influence. Perhaps Mrs Hipschen should have done the same.

Peace Bell engraved by Constant Spinoy


Canon Trieste engraved by Jean de Vos

This is another of those little discrepancies that drive a database compiler to distraction. Both of the stamps are shown on several sites as being designed by Frans Lauwers. Gibbons gives the designer as A.Lauwers and both stamps are signed AL which would make Gibbons right.

Unfortunately I can't find A Lauwers listed anywhere as an artist or designer of stamps while Frans crops up all over the place. This would not be the first time someone has used their second Christian name for preference, if this is what has happened. E.R.M. Jones, the Australian engraver went by his third name of Murray.

It would also not be the first time for a father/son or brothers combination to both produce stamps or for two unrelated people to be working at the same time in the same place and have the same surname.

I just wish I could clear this up.

The Official Belgian Stamp Catalogue OBP has both designers down as Frans Lauwers, so at least I suppose you can be certain it is the same guy who did both of them.

Thanks Adrian. he was probably Albert Francis or something like that but if he appears everywhere as Frans why did he sign AL - assuming it is the same person?

I don't intend to, but more headache for jjarmstrong47.
There was artist M.A.Lauwers as well as Frans Lauwers; both designed stamps for Belgium.
cNA

Unfortunately it seems to be a fairly common name, there is even a Lauwers river apparently. Unless there is anofficial record, we may never sort it out as most websites seem to follow the Belgium catalogue that AKPhilately quotes but Gibbons is more in keeping with the signature. I'll keep on looking and report back if I find anything new.

I found a list of Belgian artists at the Getty museum which lists Frans Lauwers as also being Francois Lauwers and says he was an artist and engraver. However the dates given are 1854-1931 so he could not have been designing stamps in the 1960s.

If you put Lauwers - artist - Belgium into Google there are artists with that surname popping out everywhere. It is not surprising that there is confusion but I havren't found one starting with A yet.

https://getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDispl...ation=&page=

The Catawiki list shows M.A.Lauwers in the 1971 stamp folder; (one but last); Lauwers is proving difficult to track down indeed. Many with surname Lauwers seem to be artists.
https://www.catawiki.gr/catalog/sta...auwers-frans
cNA

I've been adding a few stamps to the database lately that have reminded me how once upon a time, stamps were often used as a political statement. The early Pakistan stamps come to mind as an expression of pride in the newly created state.

These were a bit more subtle. After world war 2, Saar was placed under French administration. I have a suspicion that the French authorities were hoping that Saar would eventually become a permanent part of France but those hopes were dashed when in a 1955 referendum, the population voted to return to Germany.

In the meantime, France's best engravers produced some stamps for Saar that were quite stunning and would never have repaid the expense if there was not a political motive. As collectors, we are the beneficiaries. I have almost achieved completeness for these issues and am constantly amazed at how such works of art are so affordable. Here are a few examples.


"Count Stroganov as a boy" by Greuze Designed and engraved by Jules Piel


"The Holy Shepherd" by Murillo. Designed and engraved By Henry Cheffer


"Portrait of a boy" by Kraus. Designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon.


"Clarice Strozzi " by Titian. Designed and engraved by Charles-Paul Dufresne


"Painter's Young Son" by Rubens. Designed and engraved by Charles Mazelin

I'd never seen that last one. It's a beauty. I love Mazelin's work.

Totally unrelated: does anybody know which Russian engraver engraved this 2003 Carillon issue?

I agree! Both Mazelin and Piel had a delicacy in their engraving that was rarely seen elsewhere. Here are some more.


Detail from Madonna of Blieskastel engraved by Rene Cottet.

Wikipedia notes: The Madonna of Blieskastel is a 14th century oak carving also known as Our Lady of the Arrows. It was said that after soldiers shot arrows into the sculpture, it bled from its wounds. Countess Elizabeth of Blieskastel put the blood from the sculpture's wounds on her eyes, and was miraculously cured of an eye disease. She placed the sculpture in a monastery but it was lost after the monastery was dissolved in 1780. It was re-discovered in 1911.


Holy Year: St. Peter designed and engraved by Raoul Serres.


Horticultural Show, Bexbach Designed and engraved by Charles Mazelin.

And one I missed from the 1953 set...


"Painter's Children" by Rubens designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon.

fantastic thread, I have spent hours going through each page and it is pure art!

I must read about how to engrave so I can truly appreciate the craft.

Cheers

Lawrence, you may find the two part article
http://www.stampprinters.info/2p22%...t%201of2.pdf
and
http://www.stampprinters.info/4p24%...t%202of2.pdf
of interest, as I interviewed British engraver Chris Matthews, a
craftsman who has transitioned from traditional burin
engraving/etching onto steel dies, through to 'engraved'
on computer. GLENN