Collecting By Engraver

So, do any of you have actual album pages set up by engraver? If so I would be very interested in sighting some, Thanks

alex

AnthonyUK - Thanks. Yes, the Affligem Abbey staircase is one of my favorites, too: a pleasingly complex mix of curves and angles.

Perf14 - I don't use regular album pages to house my collection. Instead, I place my stamps in Lighthouse Vario black vinyl stock pages and store them in binders: good protection, maximum flexibility, and easy to scan.

Next: Polish engraver Edward Konecki (1912-1990) produced some attractive stamps for Poland between 1951 and 1976. Here are several examples of his engraving skills.

- nethryk

Mendeleev, issued on December 10, 1959, Scott No. 881.


Love Letter, issued on October 9, 1963, Scott No. 1174.


Monument for defenders of Westerplatte, 1939 (with label), issued on November 16, 1964.


Warsaw mermaid, ruins and new buildings, issued on January 15, 1965 to mark the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Warsaw, Scott No. 1298.


Stableman with Percherons, issued on September 8, 1966.


Ceramic ram, c. 4000 B.C., issued on December 10, 1966.

And that Warsaw Mermaid stamp reminded me about one of my favorite Arne Kühlmann engraved stamps: The Little Mermaid, issued by Denmark on February 16, 1989, Scott No. 865, Facit No. 970. More curves!

- nethryk

nethryk - The stamps you are posting are absolutely stunning! Good work and thanks. I use vario-type storage for a lot of my stamps as well. Altough I do like constructing album pages for certain collections as I feel it adds a new dimension.

Working out an album for a collection by engravers might be fun.

:)

Jean de Vos was certainly an excellent engraver as were so many
other Belgian ones.
Since nethryk finished off with Kühlmann's Little Mermaid stamp
I would like to show a bit more of his work.

Endangered Flora 1977
Scott 609 - 610

Rare Danish Mushrooms 1978

Engraver : Arne Kühlmann

Scott 624
Edible Morel



Scott 625
The Satan's mushroom is as its name implies, poisonous.

Nyboder Developement 350th Anniversary. 1981

If you're curious regarding the colours chosen
for these stamps then read this Wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyboder

Engraver : Arne Kühlmann
Denmark
Scott 678 - 679

Perf14 - Thank you. I'm hoping that many others will soon join in posting their stamp images, along with lithograving and me.

lithograving - Superb selection. That Kühlmann Satan's mushroom is certainly one "killer" stamp.

Daniel Carande Boto (1911-?) worked for the Royal Spanish Mint as an engraver from 1946 until his retirement in 1980. During the 1960s, he engraved a number of fine stamps for Spain. Here are images of a couple of sets of stamps demonstrating his abilities.

- nethryk

Santa Maria del Parral Monastery, Segovia, issued by Spain on November 25, 1968, Scott Nos. 552-54, Edifil Nos. 1894-96







Famous Spanish Women, issued by Spain on April 8, 1964, Scott Nos. 1522-25, Edifil Nos. 1864-67.

Yes Kühlmann certainly had a lot of talent. Much of
his work I find is comparable to Slania's who engraved
together with Arne Kühlmann all Danish stamps in the seventies & eighties.
Nice Spanish ones you have there nethryk. I took out new issue
subscription with the Spanish Philatelic Service in the early sixties
mainly for their engraved stamps.
Bi colour printing added a certain element to the looks of
these Spanish stamps and they would be recognizable
as Spanish even if the country's name did not appear on them.

Apropos printing. Nethryk, would you happen to have info regarding
the types of printing presses used by the Spanish or Danish
State Printers?
I know some used the Giori but not all.

Here is another Danish set from 1980 featuring old coins but this time
engraved by Czeslaw Slania. Just to compare with the previous
stuff from Arne Kühlmann
They are not his best work but not exactly bad either.

Scott 672 - 674

This 1962 Spanish issue for El Cid is one of my favourites.
The movie El Cid starring Charlton Heston & Sophia Loren
came out in 1961 and was a blockbuster. I went to see it when it
was originally released but I have enjoyed watching it many times since then.

Scott 1121 - 1124







Maybe it's just me but the Cid on the 1 peseta kinda looks
like Heston.

lithograving - Sorry, but I don't believe that I have any information about either the Danish or Spanish printing presses; I must confess that my interest in engraved stamps has always been centered on the products (engraving technique and stamp design), rather than on the specific manufacturing processes.

Your "El Cid" set is one of my favorites, too; it was engraved by one of the most prolific Spanish masters, José Luis López Sánchez Toda (1901-1975.) I would agree that the el Cid head on the 1 peseta stamp looks a lot like the late actor, but in doing some research on this stamp a while back I found that it was actually designed after a detail from an equestrian statue, Monumento al Cid, Burgos, sculpted in 1955 (some six years before the movie's release) by Juan Cristóbal González Quesada (1897–1961.) Perhaps this is a situation where a postage stamp influenced a film production casting decision?

I would also agree with you that the engraved Spanish stamps of that era often had a similar "feel" to them, probably because most projects were evidently team efforts. For instance, on the Famous Spanish Women set I posted above, not only Sánchez Toda, but no less than two other engravers are credited with making contributions, besides Carande Boto. In the end, on many Spanish stamps it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who engraved what.

To wrap up this commentary, here are images of a few more engraved stamps issued by Spain and credited (either solely or mainly) to the mucho talented Señor Sánchez Toda.

- nethryk

Archangel Gabriel, issued on October 12, 1956, Scott No. 852, Edifil No. 1195.


Juan Donoso Cortés, issued on February 25, 1965, Scott No. 1292, Edifil No. 1653.


St. Benedict, issued on September 27, 1965, Scott No. 1313, Edifil No. 1675.


Portal of St. Mary's Church, Sangüesa, Navarre, issued on July 15, 1968, Scott No. 1537, Edifil No. 1879.

Speaking of engraver teams, most 20th century USA stamps had at least two engravers, one for the vignette, and another for the stamp's frame and/or lettering. Many collectors (including, I believe, our own lithograving!) consider Thomas R. Hipschen to be among the finest American engravers, especially for his wonderful portraits. Hipschen retired in 2006 after a 38-year career at the BEP, during which he engraved some 130 stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. Here are images of some USA stamps featuring vignette portraits engraved by Mr. Hipschen.

- nethryk

Robert F. Kennedy, issued on January 12, 1979, Scott No. 1770.


Herman Melville, issued on August 1, 1984, Scott No. 2084.


Eleanor Roosevelt, issued on October 11, 1984, Scott No. 2105.


T.S. Eliot, issued on September 26, 1986, Scott No. 2239.


William Faulkner, issued on August 3, 1987, Scott No. 2350.


Edward R. Murrow, issued on January 21, 1994, Scott No. 2812.