I Found...An Awesome Catalogue

The title of this post should really read 'Friend Found', as I was sent a link to this marvellous catalogue by a stamp buddy. But I'm sure he won't mind me posting it here.

If you are like me then you really like to browse through a catalogue with actual pages! Don't get me wrong - I love the net and all that it can provide, but I still prefer to read from a real book. There's something mystical about holding a book, leafing through the pages, catching the aroma of all that locked in wisdom... Anyway you get the point!

I  figured that since collecting Czeslaw Slania was rather specialised, a catalogue would not have been printed. After all, printing costs etc wouldn't make it worthwhile. Right? Er, wrong? I was shocked and nicely surprised when I was sent a link to a catalogue entitled Czeslaw Slania: Catalogue of Works. Cool eh? Let's do a bit of a review of it here.

Czeslaw Slania: Catalogue of Works was published in 2007. It was written by Andrzef Fischer. It is a beautifully presented book in hardcover. And this isn't one of those books that you rip from the packaging to discover it is wafer thin (had that more than a few times!). It has a very respectable 240 pages. The text of the book is in both Polish and English.

As I said the book presents well.

Let's take a look inside...

A lot of catalogues tend to have black & white images, which in my opinion kinda defeats the purpose. This catalogue has great colour images of the stamps.

Truly a great book. So what about the price? Here we hit a snag! As will most specialised works there is a premium price to be paid. Unfortunately this catalogue is no different. The cheapest copy of this book I could find is on eBay for the cool sum of $102 Australian dollars or $80 US. This price doesn't even include postage! Sadly this price is well out of my budget range. But I can dream. Maybe one day...

So until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Aronuly Suinbai Banknote

The year 1993 was an auspicious one for the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this year currency was introduced to the country. The currency is known as Tenge.

Who better to engrave a banknote from the first series of banknotes for Republic of Kazakhstan? Why none other than The Master himself - Czeslaw Slania. 

From what I can ascertain, there were ten low value coins issued in this first series, and banknotes of the same denominations were also issued. Czeslaw Slania was responsible for engraving two of these banknotes - the 3 and 10 Tenge notes. In this blog I will take a close look at the 3 Tenge note.

The front (obverse) of the 3 Tenge note includes the portrait of Aronuly Suinbai (1815-1898). 

I have been unable to find a great deal of information on this man. What I have found comes from the website of Anne Mette Heindorff. Click HERE to view the page. Aronuly Suinbai was a gifted poet who had an innate talent for performance and improvisation. In his work we see reflected the traditions, life and culture of the Kazakhs. I wish I had been able to find some of his work on the net.

Let's now take a closer look at the amazing portrait on this banknote.

The beard of Aronuly Suinbai is a work of art in and of itself. Slania has managed to give the beard a sense of life and energy that seems to burst from the paper.. But it is to the eyes of the poet that I am immediately drawn. Slania has here given us a glimpse into the soul of the poet. We see warmth, vitality, burning curiosity, deep intelligence, and above all else a sense of true inner-piece. Staring into this man's eyes I feel like I have known him all my life, yet I yearn to learn more from him, to sit, spellbound, while he entertains with his enormous talent.

It is hard to turn from the hypnotic eyes of Aronuly Suinbai, but we must if we are to study the reverse of this lovely banknote.

On this side of the banknote Slania has engraved a stunning landscape scene in Alatau, Kazakhstan. Alatau is a province in south-east Kazakhstan. According to Wikipedia ... "it is notable for its Institute of Nuclear Physics."

As always...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Update... Poland 1951 Year Set

I have decided to create a new Label, with the title I Update... The purpose of this is to let regular readers - there are more than a few already, which is great! - know when I make updates to blog posts they may have already read. This will especially be the case with Year Set blogs which I will add to as I receive the stamps. So it'll be worth occasionally clicking on the I Update... Label to see what's new.

In this I Update... post I'd like to let you know that I have just added the last images to my Poland 1951 Year Set. You can view it HERE

I will be starting on my Poland 1952 Year Set in the coming days, s keep an eye out for it.

As always...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Poland 1952 - Automobile Factory in Zeran

On 6 November 1951 the Fabryka Samochodow Osobowych - commonly known as the FSO - was opened in Warsaw, Poland. The English name of the FSO is Passenger Automobile Factory. The automobile plant was established in Zeran by the Polish Communist Party. The aim was to provide post WWII Poland with quality cars.

The first car produced by the FSO was the Warzawa. Warzawas were used often as taxis due to the sturdiness of their construction. But there was a price to be paid for their sturdiness. They were far too heavy and as a result they had little power and were fuel guzzlers. 

A Warsawa

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On 12 December 1952 Poland issued two stamps to commemorate the opening of the FSO. The stamps were engraved by Czeslaw Slania. One stamp was for regular postage with a 1.15zl denomination. The second stamp was a semi-postal with a 45g +15g denomination.

The stamps depict a production-line worker installing a tyre on a new Warsawa in the FSO.

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These stamps are actually very significant. They represent one of the first times Slania inserted one of his little 'Jokes" into the design (the first time was earlier in 1952 in Poland's Planes issue, which I will look at in another blog). In this instance Slania has portrayed himself as the man installing the tyre!

Aside from his sheer talent, Slania's quirky sense of humour is one of the things that drew me towards collecting his works. I think the self-portrait is fabulous! What do you think of this hidden stamp "Joke"?

Until next time...

Stay Slania Cazy!

I found...a bit of a bargain

I woke up this morning to discover one of my eBay snipe bids was successful overnight. A 1960 Sweden year set excluding definitives (which I don't need) for $4. Not a bad price in my opinion.

And the good thing is some are in pairs as well as singles!

I will post individual close-up scans when the stamps arrive.

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse...On Booklets

I've just been having a bit of a browse on eBay to see what is available in the form of Sweden's Gustav VI Adolf definitives engraved by Slania. Click HERE for my blog explaining how to identify those engraved by Slania. The range was surprising, baffling, and a little scary. I had no idea there were so many different booklet types available!

The question that arises from this, being a Slania collector and not a Sweden collector, do I collect the different types of booklets? Or do I stick with simply pairs or singles of each denomination? I am a trifle confused at this point as to how I will answer this. One could argue that to collect a full set of Slania stamps it should include all varieties of the stamp available. If indeed I do go this route I am in for a monumental challenge.

I'll give you an example of what I mean. Here are just a few of the different booklets available. These are from 1961...

First up we have a 15 öre booklet with the left side imperf (no perforations).

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Next in line we have a 30 öre booklet.

This one is a bit of a doozy since if I decide to collect all individual booklet examples I can have a horizontal pair with top imperf. I can have a vertical pair with right side imperf. Or I could have a horizontal pair incorporating the 10 öre stamp. Of course I could just collect the two different single examples.

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If that weren't enough, here's another 15 öre booklet arrangement...

In this instance the right side of the stamp is imperf. Again I could collect a vertical pair oir a horizontal pair incorporating the 5 öre stamp.

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And it doesn't stop there! Here's another booklet type...

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Wow! And all of this is just from a few minutes spent browsing on eBay! I don't know for sure but there could be even more different types!

This new information presents quite the conundrum. I see myself doing a lot of head scratching over the coming weeks trying to nut out which is the best answer for me. At the moment I have no clue. I'll let you all know what I decide upon.

That's it for now. Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Slania's Machins

It always give me a bit of a thrill when I discover that two of my collecting areas overlap. For a bit over a year now I've been collecting GB Machin Definitives. I learned, when I started collecting Machins, that a few had been engraved and one particular issue had been engraved by a guy named Czeslaw Slania. I had no idea who that was at the time, so like a lot of other information it sank into that abyssal trench at the back of my mind.

Then a couple of weeks ago the memory bubbled back to the surface. This time the knowledge actually meant something. Slania engraved some Machins! I thought. How cool! 

The logical step to take from here was to find out exactly how many Machins did Slania engrave? I discovered that he did two different engravings: one for small format stamps (the standard machin size), and one for large format stamps. When he engraved the die for the small format stamps he left a blank square into which the denomination could later be inserted. Four high value denominations were printed from this die by two different printers - Enschedé and later De La Rue. And one die was engraved for the large format stamp which was to have a 1st denomination (first class).

With a sense of excited urgency I began to dig through my Machin stuff (unfortunately far from organised). After a bit of hunting I found some used examples of the small format stamps. I was thrilled. However, I didn't seem to have any large format stamps. A quick visit to eBay fixed that little problem. But as yet the large format stamp I purchased hasn't arrived, so today I'll focus on the small format stamps.

As I said, the small format stamp was printed in four denominations. The lowest denomination was the  £1.50 brownish red. It was first printed on 9 March 1999 by Enschedé. It was printed again by De La Rue on April 11 2000. In fact all four denominations have the same first printing dates.

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The £2 deep grey-blue.

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The £3 dull purple.

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The £5 brown.

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There are ways of telling the difference between the Enschedé and De La Rue printings, but I'll leave that for another blog.

To finish up, somewhere along the line I read a bit of a story regarding the engraving of the die for these stamps. I can't recall where I read the story, but when I do I'll give credit where it is due. Basically the story goes that Slania engraved the die and kept a copy of the proof for himself. Enschedé sent the die back to him asking if he could revise it as some of the details were too fine for their printing process. He touched up; the die, but bother (or think) to keep a proof of this version. Some time later - however long it takes for the machinations of the printing process to complete - Slania saw one of the stamps printed by Enschedé and he immediately noticed the differences. Who had made his engraving better? he wondered. Then he recalled that it was in fact HE who had altered it. A good story!

That's all, for now, so until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy! 

King Gustav VI Adolf

About six months ago, when I first let the thought of collecting Slania engraved stamps start to drift freely about in my head, a stamp friend offered me a few used Slania stamps. At that point I hadn't firmly decided that I was going to embark on such an epic collecting quest. But it was a nice offer and I happily said yes. 

When the stamps arrived I noticed a few Sweden heads in the mix. At that point I knew absolutely nothing about Swedish stamps, and I have to say I haven't gained that much more knowledge yet. But over the past few weeks my learning curve has been high - and a lot of fun! After a bit of time spent trawling the net I discovered that the unknown head (unknown to me, at least!) belonged to King Gustav VI Adolf. Gustav VI was the king of Sweden from October 1950 to September 1973.

Now when I received the stamps I assumed that they were all Slania engraved. It turns out I was wrong and by default so was the friend who sent me the stamps - not that this was a problem in any way! They were a welcomed gift. 

My research - again I must applaud the wonderful site by Anne Mette Hedindorff - led me to discover that there were three different printings of this stamp. Many Slania collectors probably already know the following information, but this Blog is a chronicle of my journey and learning experiences along the way. Besides the information might help someone else just starting out. So what did I find out?

Sweden first issued this particular type of Gustav VI Adolf definitive in 1951. Below is the first printing or Type I (I think that's it). This first printing, contrary to what I thought, was not engraved by Slania but by Sevn Ewert. 

Now here's the trick. To recognize which printing you are looking at you need to direct your attention to the bottom right corner of the stamp.

As you can see it is blank. We now know how to identify the first printing. But as I said, there were two further re-issues of this design. The first re-issue was in 1957. The engraving by Sven Ewert was also used for this issue. I haven't yet worked out if he did another engraving for this issue or whether the same engraving from the '51 issue was used. I'm sure there are those out there who could answer that for me?

To identify the second type of this design we must again look to the bottom right corner of the stamp.

As you can see the initials of the engraver are now printing on the border.

But what about the Slania engraved re-issue? It was issued in 1961. And how do we identify it? You guessed it. To the bottom right once more...

And presto! This time we see the initials of The Master himself.

So there you have it, identifying the three types of Gustav VI Adolf definitive 101. I hope this article has been of some help or at least a bit entertaining. Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Göta Canal Booklet

In 1979 Sweden issued a booklet of six stamps showcasing the magnificent Göta Canal. Sweden called upon the talents of the master engraver, Czeslaw Slania to bring this amazing canal to life on stamps. What he produced is a set of absolute masterpieces! In fact it was a stamp from this booklet that piqued my curiosity towards Slania in the first place.

The Göta Canal (spelled Göta Kanal in Swedish) is in Sweden. It was constructed in the 19th Century.When finished, the canal formed a waterway that was some 614 km (382 miles) in length. The canal bridged various lakes, forming a route from Göteburg on the west coast to Söderkoping on the Baltic Sea. Not including the many lakes through which it meanders, the canal is 190 km (118 miles) long. The canal has a staggering 58 locks, which makes it all the more majestic in my opinion. It is said that the canal is nicknamed "Divorce Ditch" due to the troubles that couples have to endure in passing through the many locks in the canal. (source: Wikipedia)

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Now we come to the stamp booklet. As I have already stated, the booklet contained 6 stamps. All stamps have the same value 1.15kr. I will study each stamp as it appears in the booklet from the top down. 

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The first stamp depicts the canal boat, Juno. This is the stamp that first inspired me to have a look at the works of Slania. Words of description could only belittle the stamp. It speaks for itself...

The Juno was built in 1874 in Motala. She is 31.45 m long and she hosts 29 cabins. For a look inside the Juno click HERE

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The next stamp depicts a canal boat - like Juno - descending through three of the canal's many locks. The height differences in the canal are truly amazing, and this stamp captures the journey in stunning detail.

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The next stamp gives us a glimpse of a lock gate from the high side on the canal.

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In this stamp we see a lady operating the mechanism for a lock gate.

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The next stamp depicts a sailing boat entering a lock. The boat and the people in the background provide a sense of scale, illustrating how narrow the locks actually are.

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Using a canoe for scale, this next stamp illustrates the size of a lock gate. The detail in the timber is superb!

What a wonderful set! I hope you enjoyed studying this booklet as much as I did. Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse...On Some Statistics

Yesterday I sat down and counted the total number of stamps issued that were engraved by Slania or in which The Master had some form of involvement. You're probably thinking "Is this guy mad!" If you are you may be right. Now where was I? Oh yes! I also counted the number of unique designs Slania engraved. I used the fabulous site by Anne Mette Heindorff yet again to do my count.

Now in my defence there was a LOT of counting involved, and it will be probably be a good idea to do a double-check of my numbers. So there is every chance that my numbers may be off a little (or a lot!) But they are close, and for now they serve as a decent general guide.

My totals:

• Total number of stamps issued: 1417 
• Total number of unique designs: 1119

These numbers are truly staggering even if they are a little off!!

While counting I had to create some guidelines for me to follow to make life a bit easier. For instance, Slania engraved several Souvenir Sheets containing multiple stamps, but because these were issued as a single entity I have counted them as such. So it could be argued that the total number of unique stamp designs should include each different stamp within a Souvenir Sheet. Feeling head-achy yet? I did make note of all these numbers, but I haven't counted them yet. When I do I will update the totals with a separate figure for unique designs including those in Souvenir Sheets. 

When it comes to booklets, I have counted each stamp separately since the purpose of booklets is to tear them apart (shudder!) and use them individually. There are probably other criteria I used while counting, but I can't really think of any others as I type this, so that'll do it for now.

For fun, I also knocked together a quick bar chart illustrating the total number of Slania engraved stamps issued by country. Here is the chart for those interested (I hope it comes out readable):

As you can see the three countries that will keep me the busiest - and indeed every other Slania collector out there - are Sweden, Denmark and Monaco. I was also surprised to see that Slania engraved so many stamps for Faroe Islands. If the chart is unreadable: he engraved 99 for Faroe Islands.

I shall do another blog in the near future setting out the total number of stamps The Master engraved for each country, and maybe if I'm feeling sprite I'll do it by year. Anyway, that's me done for now!

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse...On Numbers

I've been thinking that, considering the huge number of stamps engraved by Slania to collect, it might be worth having a countdown recording the number of stamps I have left to collect. Sort of a running tally, I guess...

My considerations for this tally would have to include such criteria as: do I use the number of unique designs for my grand total: or do I count up ALL the postage stamps he worked on, which would include a lot of reprints? Either way I have quite a sizable chore ahead in the form of counting...and more counting...

I have added a widget at the top of the sidebar of the blog which, when I have found the total, will track my progress.

Now I should probably stop rambling and start counting...

Stay Slania Crazy!

First Congress of Polish Science

In 1951 the First Congress of Polish Science was held in Warsaw from 29 June to 2 July. To commemorate this event, Poland issued a set of five stamps depicting a selection of illustrious scientific minds. In this article we shall focus only on the stamps to which Czeslaw Slania contributed.

In 1951, Czeslaw Slania's stamp engraving career had only just begun. Up to this point he had only engraved two unique stamp designs for Poland. For this set he was given the task of working on two stamps. It was thought by me that Slania had actually engraved two stamps from this set, but as will be shown later this was perhaps not the case.

The 45 GR stamp bears the portraits of two preeminent scientists of the 19th Century: Z. Wroblewski (1845-1888) and K. Olszewski.

Zygmunt Wroblewski studied at Kiev University between 1863-1869. From 1882 he taught at Krakow University. It was in Krakow that he joined forces with Physicist Karol Olszewski. Together, the two scientists worked to liquefy oxygen and nitrogen in 1883. Then they were able to investigate the critical temperatures of both elements. Wroblewski died in a fire in his laboratory in 1888.

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The 60 GR stamp contains the portrait of the Polish chemist, Marceli Nencki (1847-1901)

I must admit that I was under the impression that this stamp was also engraved by Slania. But upon researching this set I checked the website of Anne Mette Heindorff (probably the best Slania site on the net!). She discovered that Slania may have contributed only to the design of this stamp. I quote from her site:

"On 5th June 2007, Mr. Lars Nyberg (Sweden) has given the following information about this stamp (translated from Swedish by the webmaster): In a conversation with Jerzy Krysiak [in Sweden] on 4th June 2007, I was told that Slania has done the design of this stamp together with someone else, but that he did not actually engrave it. The engraving was done by Brandt. Mr. Krysiak told further that he is in possession of a letter from Poland, franked with this stamp, and that Slania has signed the cover, so the stamp may be rightfully included in a Slania-collection." 

This is pretty compelling evidence. But since Slania signed a cover bearing the stamp, something I believe he refused to do unless he performed a key role n the development of the stamp, this stamp can definitely be added to my Slania collection. If nothing else, it'll make a cool conversation piece.

Stay Slania Crazy!

References:
http://www.slaniastamps-heindorffhus.com/frame-Poland01.htm

Oswaldo Cruz Banknote

In 1984 Czeslaw Slania engraved his first banknote for Brazil. This banknote was in the "ancient" currency of 50,000 Cruzeiros.

In 1986 this banknote was reprinted in the "new" currency of 50 Cruzados. It is the "new" currency banknote that I will study in this article. I haven't as yet found an "ancient" currency specimen for my collection.

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Oswaldo Cruz (1872-1917) was a noted physician and epidemiologist. For the layman, epidemiology is the science that studies the patterns, causes and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations (Wikipedia). Basically this is the study of epidemics and the fight against them.

The obverse (front) of the 50 Cruzados banknote includes a portrait of Oswaldo Cruz and a microscope.

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Oswaldo Cruz was also the founder of the Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro. It is a scientific institute for research and development in bio-medical sciences. The institute was the base from which campaigns against outbreaks and epidemics of the bubonic plague, yellow fever and smallpox were launched. The institute is housed in the stunning Palace of Manguinhos.

The Cruz Institute is depicted on the reverse of the banknote. The engraving is superb!

Here is a close-up of the engraving of the institute. The trees - among other things - are amazing.

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I have invested only a very little amount of time into the study of numismatics so I'm not entirely sure how much of this lovely banknote is actually the work of Slania. I remember reading somewhere (I just can't remember where!) that Slania only signed his first name "Czeslaw" on signed specimens of the banknote and he did this because he wasn't responsible for the entire engraving. What I read suggested he was only responsible for engraving the trees. Whatever the case may be, the engravings on both sides of the banknote are beautiful to look at and very easy to appreciate - even though I am a stamp guy!

Stay Slania Crazy!

My First Signed Item...

I am officially very excited! I've just managed to pick up my first ever piece of Slania signed material. Two covers from the 1997 China/Sweden Joint Issue.

I don't have the covers yet so the image below isn't that flash. I'll definitely post up better images when the covers arrive.

Each country issued two stamps. What I find interesting about these covers is that each has one stamp from each country. Rather nice covers actually!

While I'm on the subject of signed Slania memorabilia I have noticed in my search for stuff signed by the master that it seems quite expensive. A stamp buddy and I were talking the other day and he told me that he'd gotten a bit of signed material a while back and it wasn't very expensive. It seems the last few years has seen a drastic rise in prices of signed stuff. I wonder will the prices continue to rise, making it nearly impossible for the budget collector to procure signed examples? Or has the market plateaued? I guess only time will tell...

Just as a short footnote, this is my 10th Slania Blog Post! I hope you the reader is enjoying the journey as much as I am :)

Stay Slania Crazy!

80th Anniversary Of the Paris Commune.

In a previous article on Stamp Crazy and re-published on this Blog, I briefly discussed the first stamp that Czeslaw Slania engraved all by himself - the 80th Anniversary of the Paris Commune, issued  24 March 1951. Since I wrote that article I have created this Blog dedicated entirely to my Slania collecting journey so I thought it might be interesting to revisit that stamp in more detail. 

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The Paris Commune was a Socialist Revolution that took over Paris from the 18 March to 28 May 1871. During this revolution the city was controlled by the troops of the National Guard. General Jaroslaw Dabroski was one of the leaders of the National Guard. The Commune was eventually quashed after an intense week long battle known to the French as "La semaine sanglante" (The Bloody Week). Bloody Week began on 21 May and continued until the 28 May. During this time the French army slowly regained the city. Since this Blog isn't historically related my description of the Commune has been very brief. For in-depth information on the Paris Commune of 1871 click HERE

General Dabrowski was wounded in battle on 21 May and he eventually succumbed to his wounds and died two days later. During the fighting Dabrowski was falsely accused by others in the National Guard of being a traitor and in cahoots with the French army, which by this point had reclaimed a large portion of the city. It s said his last words were:

"Do they still say I was a traitor?"

 The stamp depicts battle being waged in the streets of Paris. The detail in the stamp is quite striking.

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I have read that it is believed that the portrait on the stamp is actually not that of the famous general Dabrowski at all. Instead, it is said that the portrait is of the famous composer and pianist, Henryk Dabrowski. Despite my best researching efforts I have not been able to find any clues as to where this claim came from. All I can find are quotes like: "it is said that the portrait is wrong..." I'm not saying that I don't believe it, It's just that I'd like to know where the idea came from. Was it Slania himself who wrote or perhaps mentioned in an interview that a mistake was made? I don't know. But I'd love to find out.

I have found a few other images of General Dabrowski which I have compared with the stamp, and the likeness is close.

Portrait of General Jaroslaw Dabrowski

I have still been unable to find any images or drawings of the composer Henryk Dabrowski whose portrait is supposed to be on the stamp. So, at the moment, a comparison with the portrait on the stamp is impossible. I must say however that all the images of General Dabrowski show a youngish man while the portrait on the stamp is that of an older gentleman. Indeed, Jaroslaw Dabrowski died at the age of 34.

Is this the portrait of a 34 year old man?

Hmm, probably not. But there are two things I'd really like to know:

1. Where is the document that states the portrait engraving was a mistake?
2. What did Henryk Dabrowski look like?

If anyone out there has any information about this, I'd love to hear from you.

Stay Slania Crazy!

Poland 1951

Year Set.

80th Anniversary of the Paris Commune.
Issued 24 March.

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Six year Plan for the Coal Mining Industry.

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First Congress of Polish Science.
Issued 25 April.

(Note that there are three other non-Slania stamps to this set)

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Seven Years of People's Republic.

Issued 22 July.