India [6th Post]

New Entries

If you ever have opened a catalog of India stamps , You will find that the number of single stamp series is enormous and the commemorations are not only of Philosophers, Artists ,Politicians or important people in general.. some of  those who gave their best to the general cause or to the Community are sometimes honored too... I think this is a very important differentiating aspect between different countries Philately's , because for example in my Country , Portugal, the list of people honored with a stamp is very small and in contrast we have a small number of personalities who are honored several times , just because they represent the country's Golden Years...I don't have nothing against it, but I do think that the high level of those who are honored ( most of them belong to the World History and not only to the country itself) left behind a vast "legion" of very good, competent and deserving people....we should have many more of these single series, if We want to bring again Philately to Reality and assure a happy and long future to it... 
Today's post has a lot to do with this previous introduction ,because i have some India's Commemorative stamps to show...it will be a post with lots of [Photo] or [Litho] stamps, so there will be no talk about quality of engravings , etc...

Let us start with some stamps from 1948 and 1950...

This stamp was still missing in my 2nd India Series, representing the Great Gandhi....of course , together with the 3 stamps I already have (everybody has them..!), the 10R stamp is still missing.. it is a very expensive stamp (cv £ 130.00 Used)  and somehow difficult to find in the market...perhaps one day I'll have it ..!

1948 "1st Anniversary of Independence" (4) [Photo (Courvoisier)] Sc(204)

1950 "Inauguration of Republic" (4) [Des (D.J. Keymer & Co.)][Litho] Sc(227,228)

 [Left] This is a beautiful stamp, and I have something to talk about it... the Artist responsible for the Design of this stamp was Mr. C.R. Pakrashi... well,one day I was wondering through the Net looking for data about his work,for my other blog, when I discovered that he wrote a book about his stamps...I bought it, some days latter and it is called "A stamp is born"...it is a very nice book offering us the author's perspective into his own work , his doubts and problems during the creation of each one of the stamps , and at the same time it is a retrospective view of his stamps where many original material is also presented to the reader...it is a nice book to read and a helpful tool to initiate us into a stamp Designer world...
The stamp itself commemorates the "Buddha 2500th Birth Anniversary" ... Here are some thoughts of the Artist when he was starting the design of this stamp...

"While looking for ideas, I studied various publications on the subject, including a Archaeological Survey of India magazine where I saw a Mohenjo-daro Seal.. The idea of the tree and the arrangement and shape of the leaves in the seal led me to associate the same with the bodhi Tree , which had a great bearing on the life of Buddha...He attained Salvation after meditating under the Bodhi Tree..(..) I thought of the Tree as the main component of the design and (...) to make it more meaningful I let the effect of the full Moon light fall on it because the Moonlight night had also a great significance in the life of this Great soul... Buddha was born, attained 'Nirvana' and died on Full Moon nights.. (...) The stylized Bodhi tree , ajanta caves entrance shape and Buddhist decorative motif were integrated into the design in a balanced composition..."

As We can see Designing a stamp is not so simple as we sometimes think... it requires , knowledge,concentration, study, imagination and above all to think with our own heads....
1956 "Buddha Jayanti" (2) [Des (C.R. Pakrashi 2A)][Photo] Sc(272)

 

[Left] 1957 "19th International Red Cross Conference, New Delhi" (1) [Photo] Sc(291)

[Right] 1958 "50th Anniversary of the Steel Industry" (1) [Photo] Sc(298)

two stamps from the two consecutive "Children's Day" of 1958 and 1959...

1958 "Children's Day" (1) [Photo] Sc(322)

1959 "Children's Day" (1) [Photo] Sc(326)

 This is a group of 7 stamps issued in 1961..the 5th and 6th stamps are part of the same series.. it is now time to remember that I used a image resolution of low detail , because in this post ,most of the times, we are in presence of [Photo] stamps....

1) 1961 "Silver Jubille of All India Radio" (1) [Photo] Sc(342)

2) 1961 "India's Industry Fair, New Delhi" (1) [Photo] Sc(346)

3) 1961 "Centenary of Scientific Forestry" (1) [Photo] Sc(347)

4) 1961 "Birth Centenary of Prafulla Chandra Ray (Social Reformer)" (1) [Photo] Sc(343)

5)6) 1961 "Centenary of Indian Archeological Survey" (2) [Photo] Sc(348,349)

7) 1961 "Birth Centenary of V.N. Bhatkande (Composer)" (1) [Photo] Sc(344)

 continuing now with our review of some of the India's Commemorative stamps , we have two stamps issued in 1962...


[Left] 1962 "Inauguration of Gauhati Oil Refinery" (1) [Photo] Sc(351)

[Right] 1962 "Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarti Commemoration" (1) [Photo] Sc(355)

1963 "Freedom From Hunger" (1) [Photo] Sc(372)
1963 "Children's Day" (1) [Photo] Sc(378)
Oh, the elephant stamp..! in a previous post about India's stamps, I showed other stamps from this series, and I was decided to buy this one, that was still missing..well ,here it is , it come when I least expected it, in the meddle of many stamps of Nicaragua, but I'm very happy to receive it in the collection...now , the only missing is the lower value of the series...it is not so easy to find (well, I'm not actually looking for it, I'm more in a 'wait until it appears' mode...) 
1963 "Wild Life Preservation" (5) [Photo] Sc(364)

 Two more portrait stamps, this time from 1964...

[Left] "85th Birth Anniversary of Sarojini Naidu (Poetess)" (1) [Photo] Sc(385)


[Right] "20th Death Anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi" (1) [Photo] Sc(386)

A last group of stamps, just to end the post...

1967 "Bicentenary of India's Survey" (1) [Photo] Sc(449)

1974 "Birth Centenary of Marconi" (1) [Photo] Sc(646)

1978 "Syama Prasad Mookerjee (Politician)" (1) [Photo] Sc(799)

the next post will be about Romania and Turkey stamps...I hope you've liked this one and until next time

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Not with a lighter...

New Entries

The stamps I choose to show today are from 3 definitive series... two of them , from the British India are very common and famous... the other one , from Sarawak is not so well known...

All of these 30 stamps are spare stamps ... the series was first issued in 1882 , some new values in 1892 , high values in 1895 and in 1900 5 new colors or shades...; the design itself is based on the portrait of  Queen Victoria surrounded by different frames...the portrait is one of the most common representations of the Queen and it is used in India since 1854...As you can see many colors and shades are represented , and they belong to the 1882 , 1892 and 1900 issues (I don't have any of the high values of these series...)
I have these stamps for a long time and I decided to enter them now to the collection because of the clear visibility of the Wmk...The wmk represents a Star and it is identic to the one used in the King Edward VII series...
I'm not an expert in Cancellations from this period, but I want to show something that troubled me .. it is a 4 A stamp (Slate Green) with parts of a normal cancellation from that period and a purple overprint, but not a common one ...Actually I don't know what it is...I have searched the net for articles about this subject but I didn't found anything that help me... perhaps You know and if it is the case, please comment on this post...

1st Group : Sc(36,36,56,56,36) 36 : Deep Blue Green 56: Pale Blue Green
2nd Group : Sc(57,57,57,57,38a) 57: Carmine rose 38a: Plum
3rd Group : Sc(38.38.38a,38,40) 38 : Purple Brown 38a: Plum 40: Ultramarine blue
4th Group : Sc(40,58,58,58,58) 40: Ultramarine blue 58: pale violet
5th Group : Sc(59,59,59,48,48) 59: Bright Ultramarine blue 48: Bright Green
6th Group : Sc(48,42,42?,42,42) 48:  Bright Green 42: Olive Green 42?: Slate Olive Green

There is not much more to say about this King Edward's series, that was not said about the Queen's series...The portrait is very common in many countries ruled by the British Crown, the frames are similar, the watermark is similar (star) , but there were only two issues related to this series.. the series was first issued in 1902 and in 1906 two more 1/2A and 1A stamps were issued, with similar colors...I'm not counting with Overprints and surcharges of these series, of course (Queen Victoria and King Edward..)...I will not make adtional comments to these series because they are very common and there is plenty of literature about them...

1st Group : Sc(60,60,60,60,61) 60: Grey 61: Green
2nd Group : Sc(61,61,62,62,62) 61: Green 62: Carmine
3rd Group : Sc(63,63,63?,63?,63) 63: mauve 63? violet
4th Group : Sc(63,65,65a,65a,64) 63: mauve 65: olive green 65? brown olive 64: Ultramarine Blue
5th Group: Sc(64,64,64?,68,68) 64: Ultramarine blue 64? Light Ultramarine blue 68: Red Violet

SARAWAK

Under British Protection from 1888 , Sarawak was administered as a Crown Colony from 1946 until 1963 , when it became a states of the Federation of Malaysia.. the design is the same , but above are represented 2 different series, one without Wmk (1st,2nd,3rd groups) and the other with Wmk (4th and 5th groups) .. the series was first issued in 1918 and the wmk series is from 1928... I have to say that the Watermark is difficult to see in it's totality , due perhaps to the usual and familiar Chalk surfaced paper...(however fragments of this watermark are always visible..) : the portrait represents Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, the last white Rajah of the Sarawak..
When I was scanning the stamps, I noticed that the design of the frames has some "New Art" or "Art Nouveau" influence...that I know, it is one of the few definitive series from Territories under British Protection or colonies, that presents this influence... it is a beautiful stamp, with other particularity concerning stamp Catalogs...most of these stamps present us two colors.. the problem is to know what are the indicators of that colors to the catalogs... only when You reach the 1$ stamp, You find the solution...the color of the Country Label  and the inner frame of the numerals board are the key to the correct reading of the catalog...

1)2)3) 1918 "Sir Charles Vyner Brooke" (21) [Typo (De La rue)] Sc(50,51,53,55)(61,61a,65,66)(67,69,70)
4)5) 1928 "Sir Charles Vyner Brooke" (15) [Typo] Sc(79,80,81,84)(89,90,91,92,93)

To end this small section and the post, I like to share with You 3 beautiful stamps from two series of the reigns of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II...these stamps have a beautiful design and excellent engraving work, and this rapidly turned them into "Most Wanted stamps"... please look at them carefully, and them go buy them , rapidly...(leave some of them to me, please..!!)

1)2) 1950 "Pictorial Series / Various Designs" (15) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson)] Sc(191,188)
3) 1955/1957 "Pictorial Series / Various Designs" (15) [Recess] Sc(205)

A small post where I saved the best to last...Hope you like it.

SeeYou 

Some Culture...

New Entries

I promised in the last post that this time I would have some India stamps to present... well I picked  some stamps still from the British domination Period and a group of Personality stamps from the end of the 50's and beginning of the 60's... it is always a pleasure to find a country that year after year, continued to honor their Artists , Philosophers, Scientists , etc.. like in other things I tend to be somehow "radical" or "extreme" in my opinions about some stamps.. I think that a stamp itself has a very important role in the Mass diffusion of culture.. I wrote this few lines above just for You to think "Well, India began to do that in 1948 , but we are here doing it for 170 years.. there is no more people to honor..!.." Well, I think there is.. to give the history of any important people or Social Institution is better than to have series about Cartoon Icons,children drawings ,or other culturally empty subject..  I think it is better let the World know that the Fireman of the Year was 'somebody' , or the efforts to give to homeless people proper conditions, etc... I think there are plenty of subjects that will enrich the collector instead of giving him the increasingly common sensation of "just one more 'ugly' stamp" ... Let's face it.!.The stamps issued today don't have neither the Quality neither the cultural Background of other days..!!.. Is it my Fault?? Is it yours?? I think not.. but without knowing it we are among the millions of Guilty Collectors... We let things reach this point...  perhaps a non return point..! 

I will start today this small presentation of India stamps with some stamps of  King George VI , still in the British Period..

I do not know for sure ( it is not in the catalogs..) what is the designer of these stamps , but i think that they are work of T.I Archer , responsible for many of the designs for British India and Indian States since the George V period...the series it self , presents us stamps from 3 different sizes ; 1st we have 4 small portraits of the King and them 9 representations of the Mail transport through time and 5 large portraits of the king.. the values of 12A,2R,10R,15R and 25R are missing.. (always the high values..!!). Like most of the stamps from last post, these one's need to be on the line for a better appreciation of the Watermarks ( visibility at naked eye is difficult ), because all values except the 6A could present Inversion of the watermark ...

India 1937/1940 "King George VI and Mail Transport" (18) [Typo] Sc(150,...,153)(154,...,159,161A)(162,164)

Stamps from the most famous India's Series, about the unforgettable Mr. Gandhi .. it is a 4 stamp series , and these are two of the low cv stamps... the 10R stamp is already an expensive stamp...I will have it someday... 

It is a curiosity that all Commemorative stamps from India are watermarked except this series and the Nehru's Mourning Issue of 1964..after this 1964 series there are more unwatermarked stamps..it is strange that , to differentiating these two series from the others , they actually , take one thing that all the others possess...it is very understandable in India, a country where poets and ascetics abound and are revered and even venerated, but hardly accepted in our culture where if We want to highlight someone's life above others we will enrich our approach with sometimes several distinctive marks... 

1948 "Mahatma Gandhi" (4) [Photo (Courvoisier)] Sc(203,205)

We are in the middle of a post mainly dedicated to Personality's and their Commemoration stamps.. well, here are 4 individual series from 1958 to 1960.. 

1958 "Birth Centenary of Pal (patriot)" (1) [Photo (India Security Press)] Sc(320)

1959 "Death Centenary of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (philanthropist)" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(324)

1960 "Thiruvalluvar Commemoration" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(328)

1960 "Subramania Bharati Commemoration" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(331)

Another 1960 series about the life of another Poet from the 5th Century... one of the things I deeply regret is that  great part of India stamps are [Photo] Printed..In this series, for example, the work of a good engraver and a [Recess] Printing would increase the beauty of the stamps to a higher level... they are already beautiful stamps, showing scenes from two of the Poems written by Kalidasa..

the 3rd stamp was issued some years after, in 1963 and is simply a surcharge over the 1,3R stamp of this series...

1960 "Kalidasa Commemoration" (2) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(329,330)

1963 "Surcharge on 'Kalidasa Commemoration'" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(371)

 Before continuing , I must say that my work about Stamp Designers from India, in my other blog is rather delayed, because i don't have yet the Catalogs i need for that.. I already got dozens of catalogs , but I must continue to buy them, at  low prices, of course... they are nowadays my favorite reading material...

Here are 3 more Commemorative stamps:

1962 " Retirement of President Dr. Rajendra Prasad" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(357)

1960 "Birth Centenary of Dr. M. Visvesvaraya (engineer)" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(332)

1964 "92nd Birth Anniv of Sri Aurobindo (religious teacher)" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(390)

Now , I have here some stamps from an animal series from 1962/1963..

there are two stamps missing , but the elephant is really a "must have item".. i saw it some days ago, and it is a beautiful and majestic stamp...Scott consider that the 1st stamp is from this series, but other catalogs don't , and it is quite acceptable because if You notice the country label is different for this stamp...SG says that this is a stamp issued in1962 in the "wild Life week"...for now , we will keep it in the series..

1962/1963 "Wild Life Preservation Series" (6) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(362,363,365,366)

Three more Personality stamps...The first is about a Famous Mathematician, the second commemorates an educator and the third, the life of a British woman in India...this last stamp has the particularity of having a wrong date , printed in it's left side..
1962 " 75th Birth Anniv of Srinivasa Ramanujan (mathematician)" (1) [Photo (ISP)] SC(369)
1964 "Birth Centenary of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (education reformer)" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(389)
1963 "Annie Besant Commemoration" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(377)

Here it is the beautiful stamp of Nehru...

1964 "Nehru Mourning Issue" (1) [Photo (ISP)] Sc(388)

I have calculated badly the number of stamps to use in this post.. I have many more commemorative's from India, but I choose only these one's for this post, but in the end they were not sufficient...this is not a good post... I really don't like it.. sorry!!

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