Collecting By Engraver

Here are some more Moroccan ones I traded for at the same time.
These definitives where issued for the independent kingdom
of Morroco portraying King Muhammed V.

Engraver : Charles Mazelin 1882 - 1964

Any ideas who engraved this set from Suriname 1945?

Here are a few more showing the variety and skill of Claude Durrens.

1964 Philatec sheet - 30c were engraved by Durrens and the other two by J. Piel

That Suriname set is very nicely engraved.
As far as who the engraver(s) was/were maybe nethryk has info
but most of the ABNC engravers toiled away anonymously just
like the ones for the British security printers.

No engraver mentioned in my old Michel Übersee Katalog.

AnthonyUK - According to my research, the vignette on at least one of your 1945 Suriname stamps, the 2.5 cent value (Scott No. 187), is credited to American master engraver Elie Timothée Loizeaux (1873-1956), who engraved stamps and bank notes for at least 29 countries during his 53-year career at ABNC. Typically, at ABNC engraving assignments on large sets like this would be spread out among several engravers, which may be the case in this instance. Also, ABNC employed specialists for lettering and frames, much as did the USA's BEP. Although I have a good deal of biographical information concerning ABNC's principal engravers, my attribution information about specific stamp issues is unfortunately only fragmentary. But never fear, I keep plugging away trying to discover more! If I find out any more relevant information, I'll be sure to share it with you here. - nethryk

Back with a few more from Czechoslovakia.

These two were quite a team.

Designer : Max Svabinsky

Engraver : Jindra Schmidt

Scott 343 - 345 1948

Both this set and the previous one were issued for the
11th Sokol Congress in Prague. Sokol was a Slavic youth sport movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokol

Designer : Max Svabinsky

Engraver : Jindra Schmidt

Scott 351,353,354 1948

Designer : Karel Svolinsky

Engravers : Ladislav Jirka(3k), Jan Mracek (5k)


Scott 358



Scott 359

nethryk - Thank you ever so much for your images of Josso's fine designs for the Morocco stamps interpreted by Pierre Gandon.

Background info on creators of our stamps such as Rostislav Vanìk, Alfréd Fuchs or Josef Paleèek is available on http://www.batz-hausen.de/stampeng.htm as lithograving has pointed out.

It is great to see it attached to your immages of stamps of any country of issue for quick orientation of viewers.

Any specific queries are welcome.

I also appreciate the cultural context you mention occasionally with particular issues such as that about Cratere de Vix.

Your background info on designers and engravers from Italy, Norway, Poland, U.S.A. etc. is invaluable indeed.

Thank you very much for your dedication. - florian

lithograving - Your images of Czechoslovak stamps are just splendid. I have never seen them in such detail. Thanks a lot.

As you will have understood from my stamp collecting history and credo I am a mere amateur philatelist and lover of the beautiful in engraved stamps.

I also have to point out that both my knowledge of the technicalities of postage stamp printing and that of printing terminology in English is inadequate, the former based on facts published in the Filatelie monthly, e.g. in a series of articles on postage stamp printing by the retired printer of our stamps in 1967-2003 Miroslav Vondøich appearing in the April 2004 - January 2005 issues of Filatelie, the latter based on what I have picked up from such sources as the notes in the Mystic Stamp Co. Catalogue of U.S. Stamps 2002.

Now for your queries.

First of all, I do have to say I am sorry to have misquoted you. Having switched to page 54 to check in a hurry, I confused the 1973 Art and Postage Stamp Exhibition miniature sheet of 4 quoted as a combination print with the 1974 Hydrological Decade sheets of 4. My fault indeed. On the other hand I fully understand your dependence on the Scott catalogue (which, however, is not used in this country, but I can borrow any of the parts of the latest edition of the Michel catalogue, only I hardly ever need it for consultalion).

By the way the 1974 Art and Postage Stamp Exhibition M/S was done in 8 printing runs for colours simply described as yellow, ochre, pink, red, golden, blu, dark blu and brownish black, the first stamp in 2 colours, the 2nd and the 3rd in 4
colours, the 4th in 5 colours.

Sorry. The last paragraph should read: By the way, the 1973 Art and ...

I do admire all the fine details of your close-ups showing clearly even the faintest lines in long inks! Great!

This method of hand ingraving and printing postage stamps is unique. Costly, time-consuming, but the sheer beauty of the results!

We are, of course, observing pieces executed some 30 years ago while the work and new experiments of our designers, engravers and printers did not come to a halt just then.

However, time is running short. The engraving of postage stamps is already a dying art. Printers now find it difficult to obtain proper inks, proper quality of paper, proper servicing by manufacturers as producers cease production due to the massive decline in the output of engraved stamps everywhere.

Today you can but admire e.g. the French creators' lege artis magnalia, their great deeds of art. Just follow the lines of singular beauty in the faces of Decaris' women or the eloquent countenances of his great men on the tiny postage stamp. How can one expect anything like this from a stamp printed in offset? Too superficial ...

Flat plate presses.

I can give you some figures published for the 2010 Works of Art on Postage Stamps set consisting of 3 pieces printed in 34,000 sheets of 4 each, that is 136,000 sets of stamps.

24Kè: Paris and Helen (around 1672) by Karel Škréta (1610-1672), engraved by Miloš Ondráèek, combination print from a flat plate in one colour and multicolour offset, printed between September 24 and October 4. (A new experiment in offset, not much success in my opinion.)

26Kè: Sand Bargemen (1910) by Miloš Jiránek (1875-1911), engraved by Václav Fajt, printed from 5 flat press plates in yellow, green, red, blue and blackish brown between June 14 and July 23. (Tip top.)

30Kè: Spring (1912) by Karel Špilar (1871-1939), engraved by Martin Srb, printed from 5 flat press plates in yellow, light brown, red, blue and black between August 26 and October 18. (Tip top again.)

The 2011 Works of Art set of 3 was printed in 32,000 sheets of 4 each, that is 128,000 sets of stamps from 5 flat press plates each, no combination print this time.

The quantities printed are small owing to low demand for expensive high values on the part of stamp collectors (I myself gave up buying whole sheets of 4 in 2000 when one of the stamps in a set of 3 was a combination 1 colour engraving and multicolour offset) as well as overall reduction in postal services provided now replaced by mobile phone and internet communications making the postage rates soar.

The Suriname stamps remind me of the Eaton Paper Company poster stamps that have be displayed on SCF a few times.

I agree cynical. I thought They were a cinderella at first as I had never seen them before.
Quite a nice advert for ABNC though.

Thanks for the info on these BTW Nethryk - It is much appreciated.

florian - Thanks. Doing some background research on each stamp is a huge part of my enjoyment of my stamp collection. I feel that if I know what a stamp's subject is about, I am able to more fully appreciate the artist's design and the engraver's work. And it's fun to share what I have learned with like-minded folks, too!

AnthonyUK - You're most welcome. I plan to post something here about Elie Timothée Loizeaux's work in the near future.

- nethyrk