Portugal [5th Post] Taiwan [3rd Post]

New Entries

The Portuguese series I have to show today was one of the main reasons I bought that small world collection two weeks ago...it is a large series, difficult to achieve in it's complete form ,if you go buying one or two stamps each time...

In the other hand, the stamps from Taiwan were already in the blog's "waiting room" for a long time.. so this is a good opportunity to show them as well...

This is a beautiful series commemorating the life of Camilo Castelo Branco  (1825/1890) , one of the Greatest Portuguese Writers and Novelists...the Designs are of Alberto de Souza , with some works already shown here in the Blog,mainly for the Colonies of Angola and Mozambique ... the stamps are beautifully engraved by George R . Fairweather  and John Augustus Charles Harrison... The series has 5 different designs , each one presented in 6 values and there is a 6th Design that only appears once (The 20$00 value) ; the illustrations show us different aspects of the life of Camilo, and also some characters of his most Famous work , "Amor de Perdição". It is a Great Series not only by the Excellency of the Designs ,engravings and printing , but also due to the quality of the paper... it is a highly recommendable series...!

There isn't a great tradition in Intaglio printing in Portugal, but during the 1800's , the country had some very good engravers specially in the "wood engraving"tradition,.. their work is not available in postage stamps,but some of the Casa da Moeda Engravers have work to show in our hobby,like Arnaldo Fragoso , Renato Araujo and others....a usual practice during the beginning of the XX Century and in the 40's , 50's and 60's was to contract foreign Distinct Engravers , that  used foreign printing company's (perhaps by Contract specifications or just by imposition of the Artist...) and so we had several works of the 3 most famous British houses and also Curvoisier, the  Vienna Osterreichisch Staatsdruckerei , the Haarlem NV. Joh Enschedé & Zon, etc... Maxime Ferré , Karl Seizinger, Karl Bickel, and other famous engravers have worked for the Portuguese CTT...

1925 "Centenary of the Birth of Camilo Castelo Branco" (31) [Des (Alberto de Souza)][Engr ( George R . Fairweather  / Camilo's working Room )(John Charles Harrison / all the others)][Recess (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)] Sc(346,...,376)

------------------------------------------------TAIWAN----------------------------------------------------

Two more stamps of this series that commemorates some of the Leaders of Ancient China... The illustrations represent  Emperor Shun and King Tang , respectively... 

1972 "China Ancient Rulers"  (8) [Engr (Pao Lyang-Yu)][Recess] Sc(1792,1794)

the stamps represent the National Symbol of Taiwan : The Plum blossom... nice engravings, once more..

1979/1985 "Plum Blossom" (7) [Des (Chang chi-Ping)][Recess] Sc(2154,2155,2156)

A stamp representing Hsu Hsi-Lin... 

1988 "Famous Chinese Revolutionaries" (1) [Recess] Sc(2631)

very nice series, with great illustrations and a good printing...

1991 "International Camping and Caravanning Federation Rally, Fulung Beach" (4) [Litho] Sc(2807,2810)

I don't know why, but I like these illustrations...

 Now is the moment I would prefer not to have, because I will not say beautiful things about Japan's stamps... As You all know I like very much the stamps from Japan, but in recent times "Childish" designs invaded their stamps, and I really don't like it...there must be a reason for that and I will not question it, but I have my "tastes" and I prefer to have in my memories the Great and Beautiful Japanese stamps ( this is just a small remark , having nothing to do with Taiwan stamps...)...

1992 "Children's Games (2nd Series)" (4) [Des (Kao Szu-Sheng)][Litho] Sc(2840,...,2843)

nice designs and engravings.. I think there is too much white space in the design.. perhaps some clouds would be perfect...

1992 "Stone Lions From Lugouqiao Bridge" (4) [Des (Lee Kwang-Chi)][Miss chen Yu-Ling $5.00)(Chu Hann-yih)][Recess] Sc(2852,2853,2855)

Two series focusing in the Oriental tradition of the Lucky Animals... 

1993 "Lucky Animals (1st Series) 3.50, 10.00" (4) [Des (Lin Pan-sung)][Litho] Sc(2885,2887)

1993 "Lucky Animals (2nd Series) 1.00, 19.00" (4) [Des (Lin Pan-sung)][Litho] Sc(2920,2923)

Well, I should now work a while in my other blog , because it is stopped for a long time , without any activity...You know, my mind need "fuel" to work, and if sometimes, I've got enough to ignite some parts of my life , others rest cold , without the needed flame to ensure the new desired "start"...

SeeYou

Public Works

New Entries

Today I have some stamps from the classical Period of Angola and 3 series from the 40's and 50's of Portugal...As we all know Angola was officially 'discovered' by the Navigator Diogo Cão between 1482 and 1486..The first Portuguese Governor of Angola was nominated in 1575.. Angola became an Independent state in 11 November 1975..

So , when we talk of the Classical Period of Angola , we are talking of Portuguese stamps in Angola... The main series were the same one's that were issued in Portugal...

Since the beginning of this blog , I  always said that due to difficulties with the identification of different papers, I wont talk about the classical period in Portugal (for now ,of course!!!)..

With these Angola stamps, this knowledge is not yet needed, because there are other factors of selection that enable the classification, without the differentiation of the different papers by the 'simple touch' of our fingers.. And now you are asking.. Why can't he start to study this differentiation.??. because, some of the Portuguese Classical stamps are not cheap (for my current status.. ) and to do such a study we need to have several exemplars of each stamp, before initiating a better differentiation of the different papers.. This is not yet the time..

well, enough talking, let us start...

I will start by saying again that the stamps have the same size, but this image bonding's I use to make , sometimes have a 'not so good result'.. These are stamps from 1881/1885, but the Original series was issued in 1875 (the first series of Angola stamps..).. This new series from 1881 has a different set of colors... The main factor of differentiation in all the stamps of this period is the Perforation.. in this case and just for confirmation, we need to know of the existence of two main varieties, depending on the inferior numeral labels...for the 1st stamp , we have a perf 13.5 and clearly a type II stamp.. In the first series there is a 25r variety with Color Rose and perf 13.5, with undefined type.. well this 25r stamp I present , at a first look seems to be of rose color.., but the Center seems to be violet... that  is the real color we are after.. This was the opportunity we seek to know what is the color stated in the catalogs.. it is the the color of the background Crown center of the stamp and just that!! . a Violet stamp, Perf 13.5 and type II..  

The 2nd stamp has Perf 12.5 and type I.. the color is blue/Dark blue, so there is no confusion about this one...

1881/1885 "Crown" (5) [Des[Engr  (Augusto Fernando Gerard)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(12,15)

These are stamps from the series of 1886 "King D. Luis I"...One of the main characteristics of this series is the Embossed Portrait and labels..The stamps are printed in Porcelain Paper and the perforations could be 12.5 and 13.5...Over this series and the next one's of king D. Carlos I, there are many Overprints and surcharges.. ahead in this post we will talk about them with examples..

1886 "King D. Luis I" (9) [Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda, Lisbon)] Sc(16,...,19,21,22,23)

These are stamps from King D. Carlos I , issued in 1893/1894..In the first 3 stamps, the colors are somehow faded and seem to be behind a very dense fog... The stamps could be printed using Porcelain Paper or dotted paper.. each one of these main varieties could have 3 perforations (11.5,12.5 or 13.5)..; if , after measuring the perforations, we don't reach nothing conclusive,, we have to search if the paper is dotted or not.. it is very easy to see .. with these two information's , the classification is immediate...the last two stamps have the colors Blue on blue and blue on Orange..

1893/1894 "King D. Carlos I" (12) [Des[Engr  (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)]

1st ,3rd Stamp] Dotted Paper,Perf 13.5 Sc(25)

2nd,Stamp] Porcelain Paper, Perf 11.5 Sc(28)

4th Stamp] Porcelain Paper Perf. 12.5 Sc(30b)

5th Stamp] Porcelain Paper Perf. 13.5 Sc(36)

The first two stamps, are from the Original Mouchon series of King D. Carlos I, issued in 1898/1901..It is for me the most beautiful D. Carlos I design.. it is designed and engraved by Eugene Mouchon, and there is nothing more to tell about this particular series..

The last two stamps are surcharges over D.Luis and D. Carlos I stamps from 1886 and 1893 respectively, issued in 1902 .. there are two main varieties of these stamps , and the distinctive fact is the distance between the numeral and the Surcharge label /REIS' .. type 1 (3mm), type 2 (4mm).. The D. Luis stamps could have 12.5 and 13.5 perf..and are printed in Porcelain Paper..The D. Carlos I stamps could have 11.5,12.5 or 13.5 perf., and are printed in Porcelain , Dotted or Flat paper.. From this quick view over these D. Carlos I Surcharges, we can see that we must connect the 3 papers, the 3 perforations and the 2 Variations.. For the study and classification of Portuguese or Former colonies Classic Stamps, it is better to have a AFINSA Catalog, or one of the other catalogs existent until the 70's (Simões Ferreira,etc).. it is not possible to classify these stamps with a World catalog or a simplified catalog..

1st,2nd Stamps] 1898/1901 "King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)" (15) [Des[Engr (Eugene Mouchon)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(39,40)

3rd Stamp] 1902 "Surcharge on 'King D. Luis'" (9) [Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(68) [Type I violet  12.5]

4th Stamp] 1902 "Surcharge on 'King D. Carlos I'" (13) [Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(81) [Type II, blue on blue 12.5]

Another group of stamps, now one of Overprinted Surcharges...to talk about this next Overprint "Republica" is talking about the Assassination of King Carlos I and his son , the Prince Luis Filipe, in February 1908... King Manuel II reigned after the Death of Carlos I , until 1910, when at 05 October , the Republic was established in Portugal...This event led to the necessity of overprinting all the Monarchy Stamps with "REPUBLICA", allusive to the new Regime... 

There is also a technical detail about this Overprint.. if We look for the first 2 stamps, we can see they are identical, same value, same surcharge, same color, etc.. However , the Overprint is different but it's meaning is the same .. it is written in a different way... the 1st stamp has a Overprint typographed from the Casa da Moeda in Lisbon..the 2nd stamp has a local Overprint..

The first 3 stamps are in it's original form surcharges over King D.Luis stamps, from 1902..then , they were overprinted with "REPUBLICA" in 1914 and 1915.. in 1914 we had the Local Overprints and in 1915 the Casa da Moeda Overprints..

1st,3rd Stamps] 1915 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Luis'" (3) [[Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(208,209)

2nd Stamp] 1914 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Luis'" (3) [[Des[Engr (Frederico Augusto de Campos)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(172) [Local Overprint]

4th,5th Stamps] 1915 "Overprint 'REPUBLICA' on '1902 Surcharge over  King D.Carlos I'" (6) [Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(212,216)

6th Stamp ] 1925 "Overprint 'Republica' and Surcharge in c. over '1902 Surcharge on King D. Carlos I'" (1) [[Des[Engr (Manuel Diogo Neto)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(234) [Overprint Typographed in Casa da moeda , Lisbon]

The first four stamps have local overprints on Mouchon Series.. The 2nd group of stamps , also from the Mouchon Series present's us Surcharges in r (1912) and c. (1919)

1st Group] 1914 "Overprint 'Republica' on 'King D. Carlos (Mouchon Series)'" (10)  Sc(159,161,162,167)

2nd Group] 1st Stamp] 1912 "Surcharge over '1911 Overprint 'Republica' on King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)'" (3) Sc(115)

2nd,3rd,4th Stamps] 1919 Surcharges in c. over 'Continental and Local 'Republic' Overprints on King D. Carlos I (Mouchon Series)'" (2)(2) Sc(217,221,222)

well, this quick passage over the New entries for Angola is ended , and now I will show 3 series from Portugal that I bought  some days ago, because they were at a very low price (I had ti buy them...)..

This is a series from 1940 that presents Sir Rowland Hill , one of the most represented personalities in stamps of all over the world..

Portugal 1940 "Centenary of First Adhesive Postage Stamps" (8) [Des (Pedro Guedes)][Engr (Arnaldo Fragoso)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(595,...,602)

Portugal 1944 "Birth Bicentenary of Avellar Brotero (botanist)" (4) [Des (Jaime Martins Barata)][Engr (Gustavo de Almeida Araujo $10, 1$75)(Marcelino Norte de Almeida $50,1$00)][Typo (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(638,...,641)

The 3$50 stamp is definitely not in good condition , but in the end it was a good 'buy'...  

Portugal 1952 " Centenary of Ministry of Public Works" (4) [Des (Antonio Maria Veloso Reis Camelo)][Litho (Casa da Moeda)] Sc(757,...,760)

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The Diamond Mountains

New Entries

Some stamps from Portugal and North Korea are today the in focus in this Post...

Portugal

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I will start by presenting a series from 1923 that in my opinion is very beautiful... the series is not yet complete , and I will present one of the stamps (The series has just one design..) in the left , for better appreciation , and the other stamps at the right..

I remember talking about 'empty stamps' as those who don't have a message or history 'attached'.. Here is a stamp that is the complete opposite of an 'empty stamp'.. This one has history and could be joined to various topics.. let us see..

The stamp is a commemoration of the Flight Portugal Brazil, that for the first time cross the South Atlantic by AirPlane. the Heroes of that voyage were Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral, both represented at the middle of the stamp by their portraits ..At the left side there is the portrait of the Brazilian President Artur Bernardes and at the right we have the Portuguese President Antonio José de Almeida ... At the Center we have the plane that made the voyage ('Lusitânia') and a Boat from another days (1500's)( The Caravela..).. At the left below the president portrait we have a view of Rio De Janeiro and at the right , the Tower of Belem in Lisbon.. Down at the Center we have the Coat of Arms of Portugal.. these are only some of the topics we could take from this stamps.. It is indeed a Rich Stamp...

1923 "Flight of Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral from Portugal to Brazil" (16) [Des (Unknown Designer)][Litho (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)] Sc(300,301,304,305,306,307,308,309,310,311,313)

North Korea

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I have a small group of stamps from the 60's and 70's to present..

the design of these stamps is very characteristic of the stamps from the 50's and 60's from North Korea (very simple , but beautiful..).. I am talking just of the non engraved stamps, because there are few Engraved stamps of good or Very good level..(perfect and well elaborated designs and good engraver work..)..

1959 "Animal Preservation" (6) [Litho] Sc(195,196,197)

[Left] 1960 "Sports and Games" (4) [Photo] Sc(265,266,268)

[Right] 1963 "Flowers" (5) [Litho] Sc(452)

This is a beautiful series about a group of mountains in North Korea, called the Diamond Mountains.. there are several series with views and landscapes of these Mountains.. it seems that this Mountain chain is divided between the two Koreas...

1973 "Diamond Mountains Scenery (4th issue)" (5) [Litho] Sc(1151,...,1155)

I will leave here two examples of the North Korean engraved stamps... they have some really beautiful engraved series like the 1963 "Ancient Korean Buildings " or 1965 "Wading birds"...All the engraved stamps are printed in just one color.. (perhaps this was the real 'deficit' that lead to the use of other printing methods..) [I think that they are really good stamps...]

[Left] 1967 "Freighter Collima" (1) [Recess] Sc(796)
[Right] 1967 "North Korean Cities" (3) [Recess] Sc(819)

[Left] 1973 "Historical Sites of War and Revolution " (4) [Litho] Sc(1166,1168)
[Right] 1973 "Secret Camps by Tuman-Gang in Guerrilla War, 1932" (2) [Litho] Sc(1113)

1974 "Kim Il Sung during the Anti-Japanese Struggle" (4) [Photo] Sc(1278,1279,1280)

[Left] 1974 " Five Fronts of Socialist Construction" (5) [Litho] Sc(1185,1189)
[Right] 1974 "The Works of Kim Il Sung (2nd series)" (2) [Litho] Sc(1180)

1974 "Civil Aviation" (5) [Litho] Sc(1254,...,1258)


Now, and to end this post , two MS, one of flowers and other os Pre-History..
I don't present any data from these MS..

Seeyou

Winds

New Entries

I will start with some stamps from the early days of Republican government in Portugal... It was a very disturbed period in Portugal's history , with constant changes in government and general Political and social instability...It was a long period that starts in 1908 with the Assassination of King D. Carlos I and the Crown  Prince Luis Filipe at 'Praça do Comercio'  (Commerce Plaza), Lisbon..it  ends only in the middle of the 30's with the implantation of Salazar's successive governments.. during this period the situation has worsened with the development of the 1st World War...

However , in what concerns to postage stamps , it was a rich period with some of the series that better define Portuguese Philately.. We have the 'Ceres' Series in all this period , and in the 20's we have a group of commemorative series that were really remarkable ( in my point of view...)

  

• 1911 "Overprint 'Republica' at 1898 'IV Centenary of the discovery of the Maritime Way to India'" (6) [Perf 12] [Des (Carlos Maria de Miranda Costa)] Sc(193,194,195) [Engr (José Sergio de Carvalho e Silva)] [Typo (Casa da Moeda)]

here we have some stamps of a series (6) from 1911.. This series is based in stamps from 1898 that were overprinted with the label "Republica".. the picture show us the Zamorin of Calcut receiving Vasco da Gama..

This kind of stamp ('Porteado' in Portuguese) is commonly know has 'Postage due' stamps.. letters could be sent without any stamps (or with stamps of the incorrect value.. ) or pre-paid postal values, and the receiver, in order to pick the letter,  had to pay the correct amount with the acquisition of these stamps ..

• 1925 "Marquis de Pombal Commemoration" (3) [Perf 12.5] [Des (H. Fleury)] Sc(RA11,RA12,RA13) [Engr (John Augustus Charles Harrison 1,2)(G. Fairweather 3)] [Intaglio (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)] 

These are Postal and Telegraphic Tax stamps.. this kind of stamps obeyed to a well defined legal background.. this Tax was applied in  pre established days and the resulting amount of money was managed by the Central Government or other entities according with the legality...

This particular series was used in all internal Postal or Telegraphic correspondence... by internal, I mean from Main land  to the Islands (Açores and Madeira) and Colonies (Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, Bissau Guinea, St. Thomas and Prince Islands,Macau, Timor, India, etc)..  

The first stamp show us the portrait of the Marquis; in the 2nd, the Marquis and his staff are studying the Plans of the Lisbon Reconstruction after the devastating Earthquake of 1755;; in the 3rd stamp is shown the Monument to the Marquis of Pombal in Lisbon.

• 1925 "Birth Centenary of Camilo Castelo Branco(Novelist)" (31) [Perf 12.5] [Des (Alberto Sousa)] Sc(357,363,370) [Engr (G. Fairweather ($30), John Augustus Charles Harrison ($75 and 2$00))] [Intaglio (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)]

these are stamps from a (31) series.. it has to be taken step by step, buying one or more stamps , several times.. if You wish to get all the series at once, it will be expensive ( +/- € 300.00 for a used set [cv]...)

The series is a tribute to the life and work of Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese Writer and Novelist.. there are 6 different pictures in the series, and they represent aspects of the life of the writer and personages of his Famous novel "Amor de Perdição"... In the 3 stamps presented , we find the cabinet where Camilo used to write and work (1) , Teresa de Albuquerque (the heroine of the novel...) (2) and Mariana and her father José da Cruz (also personages of the novel..) (3)..it is curious the fact that Camilo Castelo Branco wrote this novel only in 15 days , when he was in prison due to a illicit romantic affair, at the age of 35..

The 2$00 stamp is a very beautiful Green on Green stamp...

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Greece Stamps

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We have here two Olympic stamps, one from 1901 and the other from 1906..

• 1901 "Red A.M surcharge over 1896 '1st International Olympic Games'" (5) [Perf 14 x 13.5] [Des (A. Guilleron)] Sc(159) [Engr (Eugene Mouchon)] [Recess (France National Printing House)] 

the stamp represent the Stadium and Acropolis..

• 1906 "1906 Olympic Games" (14) [Perf 14] Sc(190) [Recess (Perkins,Bacon & Co., London)]

after the success of the 1896 Games, the 1900 and 1904 were a complete failure, with the lack of results and participants ; the 4 Year count was braked , and Games were implemented in Athens in 1906 to improve International participation ...it proof to be a "winning bet" ..

     

• 1924 "Byron Centenary" (2) [Perf 12] Sc(317) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd)]

the stamp represent us Lord Byron at the Messolonghi (Messolonghi is a Town in Western Greece.. it has represented a major role in the Greek Independence War, suffering two siege's , one in 1822 and other in 1825 , from the Ottoman Forces...) ..Lord Byron was a fierce activist of the Greek Independence and died in Messolonghi in 1824..)

• 1943 Air Mail "Winds (2nd Series)" (6) [Perf 12.5] [Des (O. Perivolakis)] Sc(568,569,572) [Litho (Aspioti Elkas)]

The series "Greek Ancient Art" is divided in three parts.. we have here 4 stamps of the 1st part 1954, one stamp from the 2nd part 1955 and 1 stamp from the 3rd part 1958/1960

I will give only the general data for this series..

• 1954/1960 "Greek Ancient Art (Part 1,2,and 3)" (12,8,8) [Perf 12.75 x 12.5] Sc(558,559,561,565,580,634) [Des (J. Kefallinos)] [Litho (Aspioti ELKA)]

the pictures represent : Homer , Zeus of Isteaea, Alexander the Great and the 'Calf Bearer'..

some of the stamps are damaged , but are easily replaced in the future.

• 1942/1944 "Landscapes" (18) [Perf 12.5] Sc(438,441,444,445,448,449,451) [Litho (Aspioti Elka)]

the pictures represent in order Up/Down Left/Right 

1.  Bourtzi Fort, Nafplion
2. Hydra
3. Pontokrator Monastery (Mt. Athos)
4. Pontokrator Monastery (Mt. Athos)
5. Pontikonissi, Corfu
6. Konitsa
7. Pontikonissi, Corfu

with this stamp, I have finished this series and finish also this post...

• 1945 " Roosevelt Mourning Issue" (3) [Perf 12.5] Sc(469) [Litho (Aspioti Elka)]

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