Collecting By Engraver

Emile Feltesse is another French engraver about whom little information is available. He was active during the 1930s and 1940s as both a designer and engraver of stamps issued by France, the French colonies and Monaco. Here are images of six examples of Feltesse's work.

- nethryk

Native village, issued for use in French Guinea on March 1, 1938, Scott No. 130, SG No. 123.


Beaune Hospital, designed by Emile Feltesse, and issued by France on March 23, 1942, Scott No. 453, Y&T No. 539.


Jeanne Grimaldi (1596-1620), wife of Charles II Grimaldi, Seigneur de Monaco, semi-postal stamp issued by Monaco on December 10, 1942, Scott No. B65.


Procession of Sainte Dévote, semi-postal stamp designed by Pierre Gandon, and issued by Monaco on January 27, 1944, Scott No. B77.


Bora Bora, outrigger canoe and screwpine (Pandanus tectorius), designed by French-Tahitian artist Jacques Boullaire (1893-1976), and issued for use in French Polynesia (Oceanic Settlements) on March 1, 1948, Scott No. 175, SG No. 201.


Denis-Auguste Affre (1793-1848), archbishop of Paris, shot and killed by a stray bullet while trying to end the violence at a barricade during the insurrection of June 1848, semi-postal stamp designed by Paul-Pierre Lemagny, and issued by France on April 5, 1948, Scott No. B231, Y&T No. 802.

nethryk - Visiting Musée de la Poste, Paris in 2005 in search of background info on French creators of postage stamps I then learnt the following about Monsieur Feltesse's biography:
Émile Henri Feltesse (1881 - ?), postage stamp designer and engraver, studied at Beaux-Arts, Paris, executed essentially copperplate engravings in 3 colours.

florian - Thanks for sharing that biographical information about Émile Henri Feltesse; I have updated by data base accordingly. Please check out the Literary thread to see a small token of my appreciation. :) - nethryk

nethryk, good morning. You make my cup of coffee taste better. I just love your postings and the interesting information.

Thanks!

Fifia

fifia - Merci beaucoup. Your own many contributions here are much appreciated, too. - nethryk

Juan Carlos Heras Vicario (1961- ) is a Spanish engraver of postage stamps and banknotes for the Royal Mint, and also a professor of engraving at the School of Engraving and Graphic Design in Madrid. Here are images of five examples of Heras Vicario's engraving work.

- nethryk

Ibn Hazm (994-1064), Andalusian philosopher, poet, jurist and theologian (and a leading proponent of the Zahiri school of Islamic thought), issued by Spain on December 3, 1986, Scott No. 2501, Edifil No. 2870. Can anyone translate the Arabic phrase for us?


Bonus: Here is a fragment from one of Ibn Hazm's poems:

You came to me just before
the Christians rang their bells.
The half-moon was rising
looking like an old man's eyebrow
or a delicate instep.

And although it was still night
when you came a rainbow
gleamed on the horizon,
showing as many colors
as a peacock's tail.


José María Mathé Aragua (1800-1875), Spanish military engineer and General Director of the Spanish telegraph network project, and telegraph tower, designed by Miguel Ángel Escobar, and issued on March 8, 1996, Scott No. 2844, Edifil No. 3410.


Leopoldo García-Alas y Ureña (1852-1901), also known as Clarín, Asturian realist novelist, a line from his masterpiece La Regenta (1884), and the cathedral of the fictional city of Vetusta (modeled after Oviedo, capital of Asturias), designed by Miguel Ángel Escobar, and issued on November 13, 1996, Scott No.2874, Edifil No.3456.


José María Pemán y Pemartín1 (1897-1981), Spanish playwright, poet, writer, orator and monarchist, and "Don José," a leading character from the popular 1967 television series El Séneca (for which he was the writer), issued by Spain on May 8, 1997 to commemorate Pemán's birth centenary, Scott No. 2891, Edifil No. 3484.


Facade of the Royal Theater, Madrid, designed by Miguel Ángel Escobar, and issued by Spain on October 11, 1997 to celebrate the new theater's inauguration, Scott No. 2916, Edifil No.3515.

Here are images of two engraved definitive stamps featuring portraits of King Gustaf VI Adolf, both designed by Swedish artist David Tägtström (1894-1981), and issued by Sweden. They seem quite similar at first glance, but upon closer inspection they can be seen to be in fact significantly different. The stamp on the left was engraved by Sven Ewert, and issued on June 1, 1957, Scott No. 517, Facit No. 416B. The stamp on the right was engraved by Czeslaw Slania, and issued on March 20, 1961, Scott No. 584, Facit No. 421. The colors of the numerals and lettering are obviously different, but I would invite you to examine these two stamps side by side in order to appreciate the differences between them in their designs and in the engraving work.

- nethryk

nethryk - Re: Pierre Munier (p.21), see La gravure et les timbres - Pierre Albuisson.

nethryk - Your French Guinea Native village happens to have been the very first of my then "modern" exotic stamps, given to me by my uncle back in 1946. Thanks for the fine close-up.

florian - Thanks for the tip on this new biographical information about Pierre Munier (1889-?) on Pierre Albuisson's excellent website, which I had not revisited in many months. In celebration, here are images of a couple more stamps which were nicely engraved by Munier and issued by France.

- nethryk

PS Great memory about your uncle. The "exotic" stamps were probably what got me hooked on stamp collecting as a boy.

Global map and anchor, designed by French heraldic artist Robert Louis (1902-1965), and issued on May 12, 1951 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the French colonial troops, Scott No. 647, Y&T No. 889.


Le Grand Trianon, Versailles, designed by Munier, and issued on April 14, 1956, Scott No. 794, Y&T No. 1059.

I. M. Mokrousov engraved a number of postage stamps for Russia (USSR) from the 1960s to the 1980s. Here are images of five examples of Mokrousov's work.

- nethryk

Collective farm watchman, designed by A. Kalashnikov after a painting by Soviet Russian artist Sergey Vasilyevich Gerasimov (1885-1964), and issued on December 31, 1965, Scott No. 3145, Zagorski No. 3219.


Bas-relief of Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli (1172-1216), designed by E. Aniskin, and issued on August 31, 1966, Scott No. 3236, Zagorski No. 3309.


Monument to the Unknown Soldier, Moscow, designed by G. Komlev, and issued on December 25, 1967, Scott No. 3419, Zagorski No. 3488.


Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907), Russian chemist and inventor credited as the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements, and his corrections to a formula, designed by V. Limonov, and issued on June 20, 1969, Scott No. 3607, Zagorski No. 3684.


Nikolai Ilich Podvoiski (1880-1948), Russian revolutionary, designed by N. Nikitin, and issued on February 16, 1980, Scott No. 4813, Zagorski No. 4976..

nethryk - Mokrousov's first name is Ivan.

florian - Thanks! I have found only one internet reference that gave Mokrousov's first name and patronymic as Ivan Mikhailovich, but so far I have been unable to confirm his full name from a second reliable source, nor have I been able to obtain any biographical information about him. Do you have anything further to share? - nethryk

nethryk - Mokrousov's first name Ivan is an excerpt from the Filatelie periodical dating from those days when creators' names, if available, used to be mentioned with most new issues. Otherwise, I have no further info on Ivan Mikhailovich Mokrousov. - I appreciate the reliability of your data.

florian - Thanks again. I have found that "collecting by engraver" is both challenging and necessarily always a work-in-progress. - nethryk