some Dragons

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today I have some stamps from China.. they represent several time frames from 1882 to 1963...

I will start chronologically as usual , with the first designs of the Chinese Empire ( Emperor Kwang Su 1875/1908) .. it represents a beautiful dragon,but if You watch the two stamps carefully , You will see that there are many differences between both designs...during the classification of these stamps we learn that there are 3 possibilities , depending on the paper... after a period of brief analysis I found , with great surprise , that I could correctly identify the paper... it is a relatively thin paper, but hard and strong at the same time.. it is a strange combination, but together with the fact of the design could be totally and clearly visible in the back of the stamp , it could only be a paper called "pelure paper"..so, I concluded that these are stamps from the 2nd issue of this design, from 1882.. the 1st was in 1878 and the 3rd in 1883...

I wish to say that for most of You , these are "Garbage stamps".. they are in no condition of being showed in a Blog and their value is almost zero in the 1st case and zero in the 2nd..but at the same time they are not very common stamps,and like myself, You could not yet have seen this designs in detail...that's the reason that lead me to show these first 2 stamps...the stamps are in a bad , bad state but the colors are vivid and alright and the design is correctly visible...they will take their place in my collection until better one's appear... ( these first 3 stamps .. these two and the next.... were given to me by a friend ) [ " A cavalo dado não se olha o dente " (Old Portuguese saying) ]

1882 "Large Imperial Dragon" (3) [Typo] Sc(4,5)

 this is the other stamp I was talking about...it also represents the Imperial Dragon, but in this case the design is smaller and it is different from the first...this series present a beautiful Wmk, the first Chinese Wmk, representing the symbol of Yin Yang...I show at the right this wmk because it is clearly and easily seen at "naked eye"...there are some particularities with this wmk,because it can appear with several different forms, depending on the positioning of the small circle (at the upper right , in this stamp...).. there is many,many literature in the NET about these first Imperial Dragon series... it is something I enjoyed very much reading...the colors in this stamps are very faded certainly due to external influences of moisture or even light... I don't know..it is also important for the classification of all these first Chinese stamps to take a look to the Postmarks.. they can increase substantially the value of a stamp... in conclusion, this particular field of study is a "World" of information , and stamps are evaluated taking in mind several factors at the same time.. could be complex to buy or sell stamps of these series...
There were two issues of these stamps , in 1885 and 1888.. the two issues differ in the perforation (12.5 for the 1885 and 11.5x12 for the 1888)
1888 "Small Imperial Dragon" (3) [Typo] Sc(14)

This series was issued for the first time in 1897, and two more times in 1898 and 1900/1906... in the 1st issue the label below the dragon is "Imperial Chinese Post"...well, all these 5 stamps have the label "Chinese Imperial Post"...so they must be from the 1898 or 1900 issues... if they have wmk (Yin Yang)  they are from the 1898 series.. if there is no wmk they are from the 1900 issue... in both the cases , we have 12 to 16 perforation.. (it is not a distinctive factor for these series...)... all the dragon stamps are from the 1900 issue because they have no Wmk... in the case of the 1$ stamp, representing a Bean Goose (beautiful design), the postmark called my attention.. it is beautiful and perfect... the fact is the 1$ stamp from the 1900 series was issued in 1906, so the postmark tell me that the stamp it is from the 1898 series.. the problem is that I cannot see the wmk.. I must wait for the day when a wmk detector "appears" in my house (?!?) .to correctly identify this stamp...
Another distinctive mark (much more obvious) between the 1st 1997 series and the others is the value label of the stamps... in the 1997 series the numerals are vertical and in the others they appear inclined towards the center like in the stamps I show (in the dragon stamps..).. now I want to talk a little about the designer of this beautiful series, R.A. de Villard, because after loosing some time searching for biographical data about him, I found ,curiously that there are hundreds of references to his name in the Net, linking him to the design of these stamps, but none information about his life... I can't even know for sure if he was French or German...these two possibilities exist , but in my opinion, he was a French Geographer, with the lateral skill in drawing, necessary in those days to exercise the profession, and an experienced map maker... (he is referred as the builder of the first Occidental map of some of the most important and most populated regions of China...he was also important , because he was the first owner of the famous block of 4 stamps of the Chinese 1897 3c Red Revenue stamps ; he sold  them to a Chinese Millionaire and known Philatelist  in 1927.. there is still many research to be done about R.A. de Villard, a strange man..!

[Update 02/04/2016] in this small comment about these dragon stamps, I mistakenly talk about 3 different issues... well , there is another one, from 1905/1910 , a "New colors" issue , also without wmk...(sorry for the incomplete info...)

1900/1906 "Dragons, Carp & Goose" (13) [Des (R.A. de Villard)][Recess (Waterlow and Sons)] Sc(110,111,112,113,?)

Some more stamps of the famous 'Junk' design...it is a very beautiful design issued together with two other designs forming one of the most famous , studied and collected series in the world...as You know there are 3 major printings of this series.. the first, has taken place in 1913 and it is commonly known as the London Printing, with Engraving and [Recess] printing by Waterlow and Sons..in 1914 we have the 1st Peking Printing and in 1923 the 2nd Peking Printing... all of the 16 stamps presented are from the 1st and 2nd Peking Printings.. i don't want to enter in unnecessary details about the series... next time I have stamps from the 3 printings, I will lightly focus on the differences between each one stamps...no Sc codes , also.. (these are just stamps that exists already in the collection, so there are only a few new shades of some values...)

Here I have some stamps representing the President Sun Yat Sen , one of the personalities most represented in stamps (with several large series...)... the stamps shown are from 3 different series, and the last stamp is not from the president , but from the "Martyrs of Revolution" series...1) 3 stamps from the 1st series representing Dr. Sun Yat Sen.. the series was issued in 1931 and has [Recess] printing of De La Rue (excellent work , as you can see..) 
1931/1937 "Dr. Sun Yat Sen (1st Series)" (7) [Recess (De La Rue)] Sc(290,292,293)
2) 2 stamps from the 2nd Series from the President... it was issued at the same time of the 1st one , but the design has a small ,very clear and obvious difference.. (the small sun at the top of the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat Sen has in this 2nd series a shaded inside circle.. it is very clear when You look to the pictures...these two stamps were already in the collection.. different green shade...no Sc codes..
3.1) An issue from the Northeast Province, dated 1946/1947... I couldn't find the right Sc code, so I show here the Michel (35 NEP) I use sometimes to classify Chinese stamps...
3.2) 1932 "Martyrs of the Revolution" (12) [Engr (De La Rue)][Recess (Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Peking)] Sc(319)

We now enter in the domains of the People's Republic of China , with this series honoring Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party...it has a good engraver work and it is one more work of the Master Designer Sun Chaunzhe..he started to design stamps in 1947 and ended in the 70's and he is for sure one of the most prolific stamp designers of the world...this series, particularly, troubles me , because there are two issues, the original and the reprint, and unlike other cases, there is no distinction in the design between them.. it is a difference in the properties of the papers used in the printing that determines if we have an original or a reprint , and I cannot identify it correctly.. (comments are welcome, as always..)..
1951 "30th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party" (3) [Des (Sun Chaunzhe)][Engr (Wu Jingtang)][Recess (People's Printing Works, Peking)] Sc(105,106,107) ??

This is the first series of a Group of 5 called "Glorious Mother Country" .. these series focus on several important aspects of Cultural China...the first two series of this group are about the mural paintings of Dunhuang... it is curious that this designs are much more beautiful and appealing if we see the stamps in detail.. in a first view of the stamps, the drawings are not very appealing , but the engraving work done here  by Kong Shaohui increase very much the quality of the stamps...I challenge You to see first the stamps in this small format and then clicking above them see the pictures in detail...
Despite the fact of the following series of these group have distinct subjects , the presence of just one elaborated frame at the right ( it could appear also at the left, of course...) of the picture is common to all the 5 series...
1952 "Glorious Mother Country / The Dunhuang Murals (1st series)" (4) [Des (Sun Chaunzhe)][Engr (Kong Shaohui)][Recess (PPW,Peking)] Sc(151,...,154)

 















I think I have already shown the [left] stamps from this beautiful series... the only real new entry to the collection is the [right] stamp that show us the inauguration of the Highway, with the festive surroundings, flags and sheering crowd , so often represented in the China stamps from the 50's...This series is designed by another important Chinese Artist , in focus mainly during the 50's and 60's-- Lu Tianjiao --..these are for me examples of the very good stamps China has to offer us in the 50's... this time frame is my favorite and I have already many, many stamps from those days, but my real goal, is to have them all... this is not a distant goal, but others that I have are almost impossible to achieve , like that of the stamps issued in 1967... Do You imagine the amount of money I need to get all the 1967 stamps from China ??? it will be possible only  if something very strange happens..!!..
1956 "Opening of Sikang–Tibet and Tsinghai–Tibet Highways." (3) [Des (Lu Tianjiao)][Engr (Kong shaohui)][Recess] Sc(287,...,289)

I don't have many China stamps from the 60's ... I know that there are very beautiful series, sometimes large series, but from this small sample I have to offer, I cannot have a good feedback... specially the 2nd series is simply awful.. the design is excessively simple, the colors are out of place and the last stamp ( from the same series..) is very, very bad..! I already had the the 22f from the 'Horses' series.. these are two examples , now in reverse, of something I talked about earlier in this post... these stamps are much better if We don't see them in detail...!! I challenge You again to verify this fact...   
1) 1961 "Tang Dynasty Pottery (618-907 A.D.)" (8) [Des (Lu tianjiao)][Photo] Sc(592,...,595)
2)3) 1963 "GANEFO Athletic Games, Jakarta" (5) [Photo] Sc(732,...,736)


I hope you liked this post.. this time I had more talk than stamps,but sometimes it happens...

SeeYou

Planning the Future...

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I talked several times of my 'passion' for Chinese stamps.. one of my goals in Stamp collecting is to finish the 50's stamps from China... I thought early this week in making a post about the Beautiful and long "Tian an Men" Series, but this requires that I use many stamps that are already in the collection , and I cannot  give myself this 'first time...'!!.. this is a blog dedicated to new entries and it will continue to be so...About a month ago , I bought  5 series from China PRC, from the 50's period , in order to continue the pursuit of the main objective..they all are beautiful stamps, with Great engraving and Design work and very nice printings.. this time there are no doubts about these stamps.. They are Genuine..!!..

As usual , mail from China takes about 3 weeks to reach Portugal (lots of time..!), so I received the stamps Wednesday...

In this moment I'm beginning to learn the full capacities of my Scanner... In this post I will use Scans with 400ppp , and the resolution is much better and the engraving and Printing details are more obvious to the viewer... But in the end i'm a little frightened, because the Scanner could scan to over 2400ppp!!!..it is a Great tool for the collector.. You can see details You haven't dream of !...The stupid thing is that after 4 years using this scanner , only now I'm learning this!!!!

I will start with two series from 1954, beautiful stamps..! (don't forget to click the pictures to see them in their full potential..)

This is a series about the Industrial Development in China in those days... the two stamps represent factories in Anshan , the first a steel Mill, the second a Rolling Mill... it is quite clear the quality of both designing and engraving, with lots of complex and very detailed technical designs with the signature of Sun Chuanzhe , father of most of the stamps from 1949 to 1954 and even after...The presence of two engravers , being the engraving similar in both vignettes, could be explained by the Chinese letters and ornaments in the inferior part of the stamps, that are also engraved.. so I think that one of them engraved the vignette and other these frame components..

1954 "Economic Construction [2nd. Issue]" (2) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr (Gao Zhengyu, Song Guangzeng)][Recess (Beijing Peoples Printing works)] Sc(229,230)

Again , technical development and Innovation are in order, with more complex designs ... the stamps show us the importance that Chinese government gave to the availability of skilled Factory workers, with a correct teaching by those who had the required knowledge.. in both the stamps , workers appeared in the Process of learning something about the machine they work with .... in these stamps we will find again two engravers, the lettering is again engraved , but the first Vignette Engraving work seems to me more mature than the second one ; in the other hand , they could be only Vignette and Lettering engravers...

1954"Technical Innovation" (2) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr (Wu Pengyue, Li Manceng)][Recess (BPPW)] Sc(235,236)

To understand this stamp and the stamps from this period of time , we have to consider that the country was initiating it's '1st Five Year Plan' of Industrialization and modernization... the Country's Electrification was one of the main points in this Plan, with the expected arrival of energy not only to the Major cities but also to more hidden and forgotten places... these Massive Power lines worked as the spine by which energy would flow , giving new purpose's and hopes to People through out the country... it is funny to see that even in the little details, the General idea was passing by and distributed to the population in general... In the scan of the stamp we can see a great city in the horizon, from where great smoke columns are visible , being as we all know , smoke one of the most Dangerous and harmful signs  of Industrialization (the idea that should be spread....) ; it is again a beautiful stamp .

1955 "Development of Overhead Transmission of Electricity " (1) [Des ( Lu Tianjiao)][Engr (Li Manzeng)][Recess (BPPW)] Sc(241)

We are beginning to see that this Plan was the main focus of all the stamps in 1954 and following years.. now we have stamps from 1957 and the issue is still Industrialization, this time a Truck Factory in Changchun.. in the first stamp we have a general view of this Very classical Factory and in the second we are already in the inside , seeing some Trucks being released from the Assembly line.. this is the time of small details and we can see some workers doing manual work in the trucks.. I like specially the 2nd stamp, because of the engraving ..it is a great work!!

We can also see that Economic changes were also taken place in the country... the Currency, as You see , changed in March 1955 (Fen,Jiao,Yuan) 

1957 "Motor Truck Factory" (2) [Des (Liu Shuoren)][Engr (Tang Linshen, Kong Shaohui)][Recess (China Modern Times Printing works)] Sc(311,312)

This is another beautiful series , this time from 1958.. I've had the first 3 stamps for years , but I was feeling some difficulties to have the 4th...( somehow, it didn't came my way...).. so my first reaction when I saw that stamp was ..."I have to buy it..!!!".. in the end , it was money well spent...the stamps are very good , with an emphasis in the engraving , again , but the 4th stamp exceeded my expectations.. it is a great stamp...
In this case we have a designer and four engravers, one for each stamp . The focus of the series in on Air sports , 

1958 "Aviation Sports" (4) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr ( Sun Jingyong, Kong Shaohui, Gao Pinzhang, Tang Linshen)][Recess (BPPW)] Sc(394,...,397)

I think We've reached the end of this ' smaller than usual' post.. This was the post where I presented less stamps, since the beginning of the blog , in March 2014..The truth is that this should be only the first part of the post , the second being about Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III 1906/1927  series... the problem is that I rapidly realized that it was to much for a single post... The decision was made, and so , next week we have Italian stamps..!!

SeeYou

Upsss....

New Entries

Today I have some nice stamps from PRC and Pakistan... The Chinese stamps were all stocked in a small envelope , and were bought perhaps in the end of 2012.. it was the last time I bought Chinese stamps.. during 2011 I bought large quantities of these stamps, complete years, etc.. One of my main goals is to end the 50's.. extraordinary stamps with the extra of ultra satisfaction...! every time I buy stamps from PRC I get a great deal of pleasure because it was from the beginning one of my Target countries (Yes, the pajama story--- an earlier post---!!) ...

Let us start chronologically , as usual lately...

This first series I present today doesn't have nothing special, in fact it is the weak point of PRC stamps I have today.. Yet, there is one fact I must remind you.. this is another one of the many stamps of the Master Designer Sun Chuanzhe .. this man designed almost all of the stamps from 1949 to 1953 and continued for many years after that , always designing stamps.. it is considered the major Chinese stamp designer and the first one to have International recognition... for me , and this is a personal opinion, he leaves a mark in almost of his greatest stamps.. it is the characteristic Currency label, as you can see in this stamp.. look in all the other China stamps i will present today, and compare.. they all are designed by Sun Chuanzhe..

This series is a rather simple one , simple design and Offset Printing.. One other aspect I want to highlight in the work of this Artist  is his great Versatility..he designed very simple stamps like this, some more complicated, portraits, landscapes and even some very complicated and elaborated historical stamps with guns , tanks, flags, portraits, everything in the same stamp..it was without doubts a complete designer, like many , many others who make our Hobby possible...

1952 "International Child Protection Conference, Vienna." (2) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Offset (Shanghai Huadong Revenue Printing Works)] Sc(136,137)

This series commemorates the presence of Chinese soldiers in the War in Korea.. all the Technical data of these stamps say that We are in presence of a Recess Printing but  my fingers tell me otherwise... the paper is very thin and I can't feel a thing , in either of the sides of the paper , it could be a piece of common white paper..!!!. these are for sure fake stamps..!.It was usual in Chinese stamps of those days to find mixed offset/Recess stamps, with the vignette printed in offset and the lettering in recess... this is not the case.. I must believe in the technical data I get in catalogs and internet sites, and they all tell me that these are recess printed stamps.. I present them the same way.. It is curious that only today , when I was classifying them , I noted this detail... well , apparently I've been Robbed..!!.

I've got one or two extra's that were already in the collection.. i am going to examine them and I'll let you know what I find in a future post...

1952 "2nd Anniversary  of Chinese Volunteer Force in Korea." (4) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Recess (Shanghai People's Printing Works)] Sc(171,...,174)

Beautiful stamps.... nothing to say..! [Ah.. the stamps have the same size , of course , this is a image bonding and sometimes it doesn't work properly...]

1953 "135th Birth Anniversary of Karl Marx." (2) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr (Liu Guotong)][Recess (Beijing People's Printing Works)] Sc(183,184)

China must be along with North Korea , the champions of ' Flag Presence in stamps '.. there are flags and people cheering in almost every stamp.. it is a curious record..the other stamps are fake but these ones are originals for sure... beautiful stamps and nice printing...

1953 "Seventh National Labor Union Conference" (2) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr (Lin Wenyi)][Recess (BPPW)] Sc(185,186)

There are two important but well known facts related with this series... the first is that  exists another issue with the same designs but different colors.. the second series is much more valuable and scarce, of course.. the second detail is related only to the first stamp, the red one.. there are some Chinese labels in the bottom left of the design.. in some of these stamps a word was added .. the small arrow in the picture above indicates the extra Chinese 'letters'...it is another beautiful series where Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong appear to give more strength to the series..

1953 "35th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution" (4) [Des (Sun Chuanzhe)][Engr (Liu Guotong)][Recess (BPPW)] Sc(194,...,197)

PAKISTAN

stamps from the last lot I bought in December, with stamps of India and Pakistan..

This is the first series from the Independent Pakistan.. The series show us monuments and buildings from Pakistan.. (1)Assembly building 2) Karachi Airport 3) Lahore Fort).. the fourth stamps show us the Crescent Moon and Stars surrounded by a Floral Ornament and in the center Arabic Labels.. this 1r stamp was designed by A. Chugthai and was beautifully engraved by De La Rue , London... There is a slight disagreement between SG and Sc referring to the perforations... there are two perforations in this series ... the An values and the r value.. in addition to this aspect , there are 1r stamps with other perforation, much more valuable.. The two catalogs give different values for the initial perforations and also for the less common 1r...My 1r stamp , and I've got 5 more, has 11.5 of perforation.. 

1948 "Independence" (4) [Des (A. Chugthai / 1r)][Recess (De La Rue , London)] Sc(20,...,23)

this stamp is from a series of two, with the same beautiful design...It  commemorates the first Indian Postage stamp....

1952 "Cent of "Scinde Dawk" Issue of India" )2) [Recess (De La Rue, London)] Sc(64)

The stamps of this period immediately after the Independence are good examples of how a stamp should be.. nice papers, beautiful designs and good printings.. once more we have here stamps commemorating the Independence , highlighting Monuments and Natural Landscapes..1) Kagghan Valley 2)Jahangir's Mausoleum 3) Mountain Gilgit 4) Badshahi Masjid 5) Tea plantation 6) Cotton Plantation 7) Jute Field & River

1954 "7th Anniversary of the Independence" (7) [Recess (De La Rue, London)] Sc(66,...,72)

To clime a mountain is one crazy thing , but to clime one of the highest mountains on Earth , defying Nature in one of it's most extreme Climates, it is a Heroic achievement .. 

1954 "Conquest of K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen)" (1) [Recess (De La Rue,London)] Sc(65)

1957 "Centenary of Struggle for Independence (Indian Mutiny)" (2) [Des (Mr. Ahsan)][Litho (De La Rue, London)] Sg(90,91)

some traces of the past are remembered in this series.. 

1963 "Archaeological Series." (4) [Des (Ashfaq Ghani)][Recess] Sc(180,...,183)

1964 "Death Bicentenary of Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit" (1) [Des (Ashfaq Ghani)][Intaglio (De La Rue,London)] Sc(208)

During this post , I had to interrupt the writing several times due to diverse situations...Sorry for the last part of the post where I was simply ' not in the mood' to write, but I had to finish it ... Sorry....

SeeYou