Tuesday, February 02, 2010

For Michael!
Michael wants more KGV, Michael gets more KGV!
:-)
The only trouble is I do not have much KGV, so here's just a little bit more on Georgian India, which yielded some very nice stamps. I've already shown you the high values from the definitive set, but the low values were very nice as well, depicting the King-Emperor in imperial robes, placed in different frames.
There was basically only the one set, but different printers makes it still worth while specializing a bit.
Apart from the definitives, there weren't that many stamps issued back then. Bliss! But the period did see the first airmail stamps issued in the British Commonwealth.
They're not my favourites but hey, it's for Michael, and he'll be happy to see another plane on a stamp, this being the De Havilland Hercules if I'm not mistaken.
I'm more enamoured with the 1931 set to mark the inauguration of the new capital New Delhi. A lovely set of six stamps with various images from New Delhi.
I just love the frame they're placed in; nice and old fashioned and busy and curly. very imperial!
The final set in the Georgian reign was issued in 1935 to mark his silver jubilee.
Same idea as the 1931 set but this time with images from all over India, and with yet another sumptuous frame, although I'm not quite sure about the palm trees...
:-)
Adrian

Thursday, January 21, 2010

George V
George V, as you may well know, is the king whose activities resulted in the well-known saying "Philately: The King of Hobbies and the Hobby of Kings". He is most probably one of the most famous philatelists there ever were. His Royal Collection, even though it was not started by him, is bursting at the seams with rarities, and is still one of the best in the world.
This year we will be hearing a lot about him and his stamps, because this year marks the centenary of his reign. George V became King on 6 May 1910. Now why is that such a wonderful date? Exactly, because it was 70 years to the day after the first stamps of the world were issued! But let's presume that was just a coincidence!
Today I'm showing you what I think is one of the most beautiful stamp designs of his reign: The rupee values of India.
There are in total six values, from 1 rupee to 25 rupees, but I have only four of them in some form or other. The top value, the 25 rupee with orange centre and blue frame, still deludes me.
The stamps were not only used for postage by ordinary folk, but also for official mail. Those stamps were overpinted SERVICE.
And of course, the design was also use in many Indian Convention States, such as Nabha.
I have only just joined the very active Indian Study Circle, and one of its members sent me a scan of some colour trials, of which I show you that of the 15 rs. Beautiful!
(image courtesy of Markand Dave)
Apparently, there are also design proofs available, with the elephants in different positions. I've only seen a black and white copy of a copy of a copy, so cannot really show you anything, but the hunt is on, and as soon as I have a picture of those I'll try and show it here!
:-)
Adrian

Monday, January 11, 2010

Patent Beauty (the end)
Yes, we're nearing the end of the patent beauty series, with the final two stamps showing inventions of this century.
The first one deals with Philips' LED lighting, patented in 2007. Now, to be honest, I thought LED had been around for a while, so what exactly has been patented here, I'm not sure, and a short search on the internet hasn't made things clearer for me, so I think I'll quickly move on to the next one.
The final stamp looks rather futuristic, but apparently the future is here. It is a solar car, which (no points for this) runs on solar energy, patented last year by the Solar Team Twente. I'm getting all sorts of cartoon images here, and I can't help feeling that these will one day fly above the motorway, rather than just on them.
Well, so much for this overload of modern stuff! It was a bit much maybe, but I still enjoy these stamps and will be looking forward to when they are released next month. But now it's time to head back to some more comfortable stomping grounds, like the first half of the last century, or wherever your and my fancy may take us.
:-)
Adrian

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Patent Beauty (6)
We're entering the 1980s now with our patent set, and there's three different stamps dedicated to this era.
First up is "Handwriting recognition", patented by TNT in 1980. This for me is one of the many wonders of the new age; the ability of computers to recognize handwritten input. It's completely beyond me, but that ain't saying that much.
Closer to my own little world of comprehension is the VacuVin, patented in 1987 by Bernd Schneider. Now here's a handy invention; a vacuum wine saver, a device to preserve opened botles of wine! Very surprised to see it being a Dutch invention though. One would image that it would have been a Frenchman who would have thought of something like this, but then again, they may be more apt to finish their bottles of wine in one go!
Staying in 1987, we have the final stamp for the eighties, dedicated to the milking robot, patented by Van der Lely, designed to relieve manual work for the farmer.
Designwise: Note how the clear font and the position of the text between those vertical lines make the set work together perfectly, and make the overall image one of stability, rather than too much info on each stamp.
:-)
Adrian

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Patent Beauty (5)
We enter the world of registered trademarks now with our next stamp.
I cannot seem to find all the symbols here in this programme so forgive me for just saying that there should be an R in a circle following every mention of the word Dyneema. And Dyneema is the subject of our 1979 patent stamp. It is a super strong fibre, which apparently is even stronger than steel! Dyneema is often used in ropes, cables and fishing nets. It is invented by the Dutch company DSM, the current version of what used to be the Dutch State Mines in the early 1900s.
Designwise: Note how part of the invention is highlighted in a circle on every stamp.
:-)
Adrian

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Patent Beauty (4)
Poor Wilhelmine van der Woerd.
She has not been remembered kindly in our virtual world, even though she is responsible for a very handy invention: the chain guard, patented in 1974! Hardly any mention of her chain guard when you start googling. Just as well she has been given a prominent place among the patent stamps!
Designwise: Note how the original technical drawings for each invention are depicted in the background, in an unobtrusive yet very clear light grey.
:-)
Adrian

Monday, December 28, 2009

Patent Beauty (3)
We're taking a giant leap forward and end up in the 20th century, in the war torn Netherlands of 1943 to be precise.
Willem Kolff uses material such as cellophane and empty food tins to build the world's first artificial kidney. His invention marks the beginning of an era where body parts can be replaced by artificial organs, and is still seen as one of the major inventions in medicine.
Designwise: Note how the colour scheme is consistently chosen from one of the main colours of the illustration in every stamp.
:-)
Adrian

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Patent Beauty (2)
Our second Patent Act stamp also "suffered" from a lack of original illustrations. The stamp marks the invention of the first submarine by Cornelis Drebbel in 1620. When working for the English Royal Navy, he invented a submarine, made of a leather-covered wooden frame, with four oars. It is thought he produced oxygen for the passengers by arming nitre, which produces oxygen.
The submarine shown on the stamp is a replica, because the original submarine no longer exists.
:-)
Adrian

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Patent Beauty (1)
Those who know me a bit, know that I'm not usually very fond of modern-day stamp design, and when it comes to Dutch stamps, I usually find them quite abhorrent, even though I don't always vend my disgust here (that would bore you to tears I suppose, and there's so much positive to enjoy with stamps, so why bother focusing on the negative?!).
But I've just seen the Dutch stamps that will be issued next February, marking a centenary of the Dutch State Patent Act, and the designs are so absolutely stunning that I've fallen in love with them straightaway.
The only slight downer is that Dutch TNT has this horrible habit of issuing stamps in miniature sheets only, so this set comes in a sheetlet of ten different stamps huddled together. It completely spoils the whole thing, so I guess it's a case of ripping the sheet up, removing all the unnecessary tabs and margins, and then you're left with ten beautiful stamps. And I'm going to show you to them, all of them, one by one, whether you like it or not!
:-)
First up is the stamp dedicated to Hans Lipperhey, who applied for a patent on his binocular telescope ( = two small prismatic telescopes joined together) in 1608. He may not necessarily have been the first to make one, but he is credited with making the device widely known. According to the designer of the stamp, the original binocular telescope no longer exist, so the illustration is that of a replica.
More tomorrow!

:-)
Adrian

Monday, December 21, 2009

Combi-Mail
That's right. Ever heard of combi-mail? Well, I must admit that I hadn't, until I was introduced to F.J. van Beveren's book about it, called Introducing Combi-Mail - Aeropostal History. That's how I now know that combi-mail means airmail with added postal markings showing special postal service treatment. So there!
There are apparently many subclasses, such as "airmail service for the entire route not possible", "printed airmail labels or handstamped cachests showing the flown stage", or "Surface air-lifted mail", meaning that air transport over the entire route would be possible, but a less expensive alternative (surface mail) is considered satisfactory. But also included is propaganda for airmail, which also includes slogan postmarks.
I had a browse through my covers and found that it is not even that easy to find covers that fit into one of those subclasses. I suppose the easiest ones are the ones with slogan postmarks, such as on this 1947 airmail cover from Switzerland to the United States, claiming that airmail to foreign countries is both reliable and fast.
The only other interesting cover I found is also from Switzerland.
It is an interesting cover in itself, what with its fieldpost postmark, and travelling post office postmark. But when dealing with combi-mail it is the cachet in the bottom right corner that does the trick. The cachet states that the postal service was suspended (we're talking 1942 here) and that the mail is returned to sender.

SHAMELESS PLUG!
Now, if you're interest is aroused, then why not join the Netherlands Philatelic Circle and you'll get a copy of this book (hardback, 256 pages, written in English)completely free! Membership is only £15 per year (UK rate, it's £20 for the rest of the world), so it's a bargain, whichever way you look at it. You can contact the NPC here.
END OF SHAMELESS PLUG!

Back soon (I hope!).
:-)
Adrian