I Muse...On Another Engraver to Study

I'm fairly certain that I'm not alone in thinking that over the years the French Post has had many, many incredibly talented artists on their payroll engraving stamps. So many in fact that it can be rather overwhelming trying to collect all of their amazing work. My strategy to date has been to choose a particular engraver, and then spent some time getting to know their work and their style. And along the way start putting together the bones of a collection.

***

Most recently I've become intrigued by the work of Jules Piel. I haven't looked at much of his work yet, but what I have seen really impresses me. His first engraving, which was part of a definitive set for Andorra in 1932 is a true thing of beauty. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the design, which was printed in six values, just yet. But I did find the below image. 

Between 1932 and 1966 Jules Piel was a prolific engraver for both France and her various colonies. For a full bio, check out this blog post HERE. Indeed, many iconic French stamps were the work of this master engraver. Perhaps the most important of these was a set depicting Marshall Pétain, issued in 1941. 

Commencing in 1950, France began issuing a set of stamps on an annual basis with a surcharge to go to the Red Cross. Jules Piel engraved this first set of Red Cross stamps. In fact, he contributed to every set until his retirement from the French postal authority in 1966. And I was delighted to discover that not only did Jules Piel rack up an extensive array of stamps, but he also engraved quite a few banknotes! I must say, I'm really looking forward to delving more deeply into the work of this prolific artist.

Until next time...

I Muse... On a Mystery Solved!

Last week I tracked the journey of a lovely cover I recently purchased bearing a stamp engraved by Pierre Gandon. Click HERE to check it out. The cover bears a lot of intriguing cancels. Luckily I was able to identify all but one of the cancels.

At the time that I wrote the blog, this cancel had me stumped. I managed to work out that "Centre de Tri" is a French mail sorting centre. But the name of the sorting centre I couldn't work out. Yesterday, with the help of a stamp buddy, I had another crack at it. As often happens after having a bit of a break from the dilemma, we solved this one in a matter of moments!

The mysterious cancel, as it turns out, isn't so mysterious after all. It is a cancel for the Orly Mail Sorting Centre at the Orly Airport in Paris, France. Before the opening of the Charles de Gaul Airport in 1974, Orly was the main airport in Paris.

Of course, however, a particular cancel cannot be definitely identified without another full example for comparison. thankfully my stamp buddy's search came up trumps, and I have my proof!

It's always a good feeling when a little mystery gets solved!

Until next time...

I Muse... On An Intriguing Journey

I am continually fascinated by the amazing stories a postal cover can tell us, its route, the places it passes through, and even the times of arrival and departure from said places. And of course the stamps affixed to the cover can also tell a story. Recently I purchased a cover that, in my opinion, has a fantastic tale to tell. Let's listen closely to see what it has to say...

Before the full cover is revealed, first, let's consider the stamps affixed to the cover. 

On the left we have a stamp featuring an Morane-Saulnier MS 760 light aircraft. This stamp was issued 11 January 1960 as part of a four stamp Airmail series. The stamp was designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon. Incidentally, this is the second printing of this stamp. It was first issued 16 February 1969, bearing a value of 300f (old francs). The stamp on the right features the Isle of Gosier, Guadeloupe. It has a face value of 1f and was issued on 22 June 1970. This lovely stamp was designed and engraved by Pierre Béquet.  These two stamps give the cover a total face value of 4f.

***

Now we can reveal the entire cover!

A beauty, isn't it! Immediately apparent from the front of the cover is that it was sent express, which probably accounts for the high franking of 4f, and that it was sent to two different locations. But more on that in a moment. From the two cancels tying the stamps to the cover, we see that it was posted on 17 August 1971 from La Faloise, Somme at 4pm. Interestingly, one of the stamps on this cover is over ten years old! Perhaps pulled from an old horde?

***

Now we can turn our attention to the reverse of the cover in order to decipher the journey it took.

According to the cancels, the cover's first trip took place between 17-18 August. It left Somme at 4pm and arrived at Paris Gare du Nord at 8pm. Later that night it then left Paris Gare du Nord at 11:30pm. Its next destination was Rueil-Malmaison (Ile de la Cite, Paris) on the 18 August at 6am. The map below gives an idea of its journey.

Then something happened. Either the person was no longer at that address or they wanted the letter sent on. Whatever the case, the cover was again checked in at Rueil-Malmaison post office and was on its way again at 4:45pm that same afternoon.

Now the cover takes a much longer journey, all the way to 74 Boulevard Chanard, Quiberon, where it arrives on the 20 August at 7pm. See the map below.

***

Interestingly, the cover seems to have had a short stopover at a sorting centre. Unfortunately I am unable to work out where the sorting centre is. If anyone out there has any idea where the below sorting centre is located, I'd love to hear from you.

Wow! What a journey. This is precisely why I love covers so much.

Until next time...

I Muse... On a Cormorant Issue

That deflated feeling that comes from discovering a stamp you need to complete a collection is way beyond your price range. It is an awful feeling, trying to come to terms with the very real possibility that you may never be able to acquire a particular stamp, and therefore, always have a blank space in your album. This situation, in my view, can be even more heartbreaking when you have chosen a collection that you have - albeit wrongly - assumed could be completed over time while working within tight budgetary constraints.

So how do you deal with such a conundrum? This is a question I am now wrestling with, so I thought musing about it may help bring some clarity. My current dilemma arose a few days ago while I was looking through my new Stanley Gibbons France Catalogue. I had turned to the Monaco section of the catalogue to have a look at the newest issues. As I was flicking through my eye caught a particularly nice diamond style set of airmail stamps issued in 1955, SG 508-11a. When I stopped to have a look I discovered that the set of four was designed by Pierre Gandon, and Gandon engraved three of the four. My excitement over finding this gorgeous set was, however, short-lived! The instant I spotted the catalogue value of the highest value in the set, my heart sank. £500. Yes, you read right. £500!

Here is the offending stamp - SG 511. 1000f Cormorants. 

It is a truly beautiful stamp, but alas, at £500 this stamp is totally out of reach. Now I know what you're thinking. Catalogue value doesn't truly reflect current market value. So with that in mind, I went online and had a look. Before I go any further I have to say that I have never spent more than $50 AUS on a stamp. Not because I didn't want to, but simply haven't had the means to do so. This is not a woe-is-me speech. Just a statement of fact. With this known, you will understand then why the online prices of this stamp are still beyond reach...for the time-being anyway! The average online price for this issue is $95-105 AUS.

But it is not all doom and gloom. There is a small ray of light at the end of the very narrow tunnel. There is the possibility of a used example appearing on the market. So far I haven't found one markedly cheaper than a mint example. But who knows what the future will hold?

There is one other option. This stamp when issued in 1955 was perforated 11. In 1957 the stamp was reprinted with perforation 13. The latter example has a lower catalogue value of £150, which means a distinctly lower market price. Indeed, I have found an example that, with a little saving, is right at the top end of my budget. This will allow me to have an example of Gandon's engraving, but it will not fill the 1955 space in my album. But I have been asking myself, does this really matter, given the 1955 issue is so darn expensive?  Probably not. But I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, "I don't like blank spaces!"  Anyway, enough rambling.

Until next time...

I Muse...on a Scandal in Saarland

Autumn has arrived Down Under. So what better way to welcome a new season than a bit of a scandal...

The year was 1948. French stamp engraver Albert Decaris had submitted several designs for a new Saarland definitive series. The designs were accepted, three of which featured the faces of Saarland workers. But little did the French Postal Authorities know, these designs were based on photographs Decaris had seen and used without gaining permission from the original photographer, Ilse Steinhoff. Apparently, a long legal battle ensued.

After the stamps had been issued, the people who had had their photos taken saw themselves on stamps, and naturally they were quite shocked! Subsequently, an article was published in ILLUS magazine  revealing the faces the stamp images belonged to. As a collector I found seeing the original photos quite cool.

***

The 2f and 3f stamps depict a miner named Josef Holz from Hasborn at the harvest.

***

The 4f and 5f values depict Josef Holz's daughter, Alina. She is also busily harvesting.

***

The 6f and 9f values depict Josef Holz standing proudly at the entrance of a mine. Incidentally, this image was used on the cover of ILLUS magazine.

***

While searching for information on these stamps I also came across one of Decaris' sketch's for Holz standing before the mine.

In case you are interested this article can be found in ILLUS 1948 No.3 - "The Living Stamp". If anyone knows where a copy of this issue can be purchased, please let me know. I'd love to have a copy of it for my collection.

Until next time...

I Muse ... On a Birthday

On 20 January 1899 the incredibly talented artist, designer and stamp engraver, Pierre Gandon, was born in L'Haÿ-les-Roses in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. His father, Gaston Gandon, was also an extremely talented engraver.

Since today is Pierre Gandon's birthday I thought I'd honour the day by featuring his first issued stamps. For this we need to go all the way back to 1939 to French Morocco. Between 1939 and 1942 French Morocco issued a set of 37 definitives and a set of 7 airmail stamps. Gandon was involved in both sets. He engraved three designs for the definitive set and one design for the airmail set.

***

The first of the three definitive designs happens also to be my favourite. It depicts a horseman beneath a cedar tree.  This scene evokes for me a fantasy world - a lone rider on a journey, during which he will face many obstacles. I love it. This design comes in three values: 15c green, 20c sepia (pictured below), and 1f brown.

***

The next design features a shepherd and arganier trees. This design comes in three values: 30c blue (pictured below), 40c brown, 45c blue-green.

***

The final design he engraved for the definitive set depicts the Ramparts at Salé. This design was more prolific. It comes in seven values: 50c carmine, 50c blue-green (pictured below & issued 1940), 60c greenish-blue, 60c brown (issued 1940), 90c ultramarine, 1f 50c brown-red (1940), and 1f. 50c rose (1942).

One thing I find interesting about this stamp, and I'm not sure if it is a design flaw or just a stylistic quirk. The trunion - the bar that runs perpendicular to the barrel - is conspicuously out of its seat in the carriage. I for one wouldn't want to be behind such a cannon if it fired!

***

Gandon was also responsible for engraving one of the two designs in the Airmail set. The design comes in four values: 1f. 90 ultramarine, 2f bright purple (1940), 3f brown, and 10f greenish brown. I haven't managed to find myself a copy of any of the values yet, but I did find an image of a lovely cover, which has three of the four values affixed. It is a registered letter to Paris.

Until next time...

I Muse...On Red Cross Booklets

Not long after I started looking for French engraved stamps I spotted a Red Cross issue booklet. It was very nice, but at the time I honestly didn't give the idea of buying any of them all that much thought. Then the other day I received a couple of year sets in the mail. One of the sets was 1969. I have to say the Red Cross stamps really stood out as superb. While studying them, I recalled seeing some booklets on ebay. So I went and had a look to see what was available and the prices. I quickly found a booklet for the 1969 stamps for only $4.00 Australian. I thought this was reasonable -  I hope it was - so I bought it.

I haven't received the item yet, so the below scan is not the best quality, but its good enough to get a glimpse of what I got. Both stamps were designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon from paintings by Nicolas Mignard.

Does anyone else out there collect these booklets? Have I in buying this first one, opened up a whole can of monetary worms I should have left in the can?

Until next time... 

I Muse...On Display Conundrums

As my new France stamp sets slowly trickle in, I am faced with an ever increasing conundrum. The thing that perplexes me is this: how do I sort and display my engraved stamps?

As regular readers of my blogs will know, I am an avid collector of all things Albert Decaris. In fact, it was in the course of building my Decaris collection that I became more and more aware of many other supremely talented French stamp engravers out there. By simply collecting Decaris I didn't have any display conundrums rattling about in my brain. But, now that I have expanded my engraver collection to include all French engravers, I am unsure how to proceed.

As I see it I have two options:-

1. Display my French stamps by date of issue/year, thus mixing a bunch of engravers on one hagner page.
2. Display my stamps chronologically by engraver. 

Both options have pros and cons, hence the dilemma. If I were to choose option 1 I would need to dismantle my Decaris collection in order to insert stamps in their relative positions. It would also probably, over time, minimise the number of hagners required to house the collection.

Option 2 has, in my mind, several pros. One of which is that, by having all the stamps by one particular engraver set out in chronological order, I may then be able to study the changes and/or improvements in the engraver's style. This is something I really like to do. Also, perhaps a bit less importantly, this option would actually enable me to keep all my Decaris stamps as they are. Additionally, not all French stamps are engraved, especially as the years tick on. Therefore, the French year sets would actually not be full year sets. This is also, I guess, a consideration.

So what to do? In all honesty I have not found a solution yet. At present I have all my new stamps in their relevant years and I have left my Decaris collection as is for now. Ultimately, I guess whatever choice I make is not exactly irreversible, but I'd definitely prefer to choose the best solution for me the first time round - if possible.

How do you display your engraved stamps?

Until next time...

**I Muse...On Year Sets

What is the most cost effective way to get started on a collection of French engravers? Especially when you consider the sheer volume of stamps within said collection, since we are not only talking about the stamps of France but also her many colonies. This is the question I started pondering a few weeks ago when I made the decision to build a French stamp engravers collection. 

Obviously there's no easy answer to this. Building such a large collection is an immense challenge, and a very rewarding one. So back to the question: where does one start? The answer to this depends very much on the collector. My personal preference is to opt for year sets. My reason for doing it this way is threefold. Firstly, it is often a cheaper method, especially if you collect your stamps through a bidding site or a dealer to whom you have to add postage to the cost. Postage costs can add a lot of extra money to your purchases. Secondly, a lot of France year sets, especially in the years before litho took centre stage, were predominantly engraved stamps, so value for money is excellent. Lastly (but by no means least), it's quite frankly loads of fun to get a large batch of stamps in the mail to sort through. And that's what this whole collecting caper is for me. Fun!

With the primary method for building my collection sorted, I then considered where to start. Truthfully, the answer to this came rather spontaneously. I happened to spot an engraved stamp issued in 1974 that I quite liked, so I searched for 1974 year sets on ebay. I found a seller who had many different year sets available, all for around $10-15. I quickly grabbed the first three sets I saw. 1974, 1978, and 1979.

I got all three sets for just over $30. There are roughly 40 stamps per year, which works out at about 0.25c a stamp! Not a bad deal. This is why I go for year sets as often as I am able.

These three year sets just arrived in the mail. So the next few days will be spent - very happily - sorting them. And planning future blog posts for them. How much more value can one get?

Until next time...

I Muse...On a Cursive Revelation!

While compiling stamp images to do my France 1946 Year Set blog, I had somewhat of a durr revelation! In my Luxembourg Palace blog - click HERE - I commented on the unique way in which Decaris signed his name to the stamp.

It has been signed in cursive script. What I did not realise was that Decaris signed every stamp he engraved in 1946 in the same way! Just in case you don't believe me, I have arranged below a close-up image of the signature on each stamp Decaris engraved in 1946.

Joan of Arc

***

Francois Villon

***

Peace Conference

***

UNESCO

Until next time...

Stay Decaris Crazy!