Iceland 1969 - Viking Ships

In my last blog I outlined the process I go through in choosing a new country to collect, since I have recently finished my basic Poland collection. And instead of simply telling you all which country I chose next, I gave you a couple of options to choose from. If you didn't read that blog, click HERE

So what country did I choose? I got a couple of replies on my question and both were right. Well done guys! The answer is... Iceland. I chose Iceland because it had nice range of ships on stamps, and I was particularly interested in the lovely mini-sheets available. The majority of those are beautiful antique style maps. With all that being said, let's get down to the interesting stuff...

 In 1969 Czeslaw Slania began a collaboration with the postal authority of Iceland. During his time working with Iceland, which continued until 1991, Slania produced some gorgeous stamps and mini-sheets. The first stamps Slania engraved for Iceland commemorated the centenary of the first Nordic postal co-operation and the fiftieth anniversary of Norden Association, which is basically a confederation of five Nordic countries. For further information click HERE.

The design of the stamps to commemorate the dual event was based on coins from the period dating c. 825 which depict Viking commercial ships. Below is an example of the types of coins used for the stamp design.

Image from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/vikings_at_sea/

You will notice that there are five Viking ships in the design. These represent the five countries involved in the Norden Association - Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The use of Viking commercial ships is a symbol of the unifying factor between these countries - the Vikings. The design, I think you'll agree, is simple yet rather elegant ... and it contains ships (what could be better than that!).

Interestingly this design was used by the five Nordic countries mentioned above. Of the five Slania engraved the stamps for two countries Iceland and Denmark. Now I have to track down the Denmark stamps! This collecting caper never ends LOL!

Usually I end my blogs at this point, but I thought the Viking theme made for a good opportunity to tell you about one of my other passions, building model wooden ships. Presently I am working on a model of a Viking ship by Artesania Latina. Here's a photo of the ship so far - it is FAR from complete, so be kind :)

I am also currently working on HMS Supply, a ship from the First Fleet. I don't have an up to date image yet. Perhaps I'll add one later.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse...on What Country Next?

How do you collect your Slania stamps? Do you choose a country and stick to that country religiously until you have collected everything there is to collect? Or do you have a more diverse style, grabbing whatever you spot at a reasonable price?

I personally tend to try to collect one country at a time, mostly so I don't have holes everywhere in the collection. Also I find this methodical approach tends to enable me to keep track of what I have and don't have. Of course, this approach isn't flawless by any stretch! I still find myself grabbing a cheap stamp thinking - "I'm sure I don't have that one!" But sure enough,  when I go back to the album there's the stamp sitting there smirking at me.

Having said all this, I don't hold to this policy with strict rigidity. If I spot a good bargain from another country I will certainly grab it. But I do like to generally stick to one country at a time.

Now that you are fully enlightened on my collecting policy - and probably bored stiff - I'll proceed to the actual point of this blog. Yes, there is one lurking in here somewhere! When I get close to completing a country, I spend a bit of time having fun perusing the stamps of other countries. Now that I have my Slania catalogue this process is even more enjoyable (to me at least, since I prefer reading a book than sitting with my face glued to the computer screen. Just a personal preference).

So over the last few days - well, more like a week actually - I've been contemplating: "What next?" After a long study of the catalogue I narrowed my options down to two possibilities. These are:

      - Iceland
      - Greenland

Both of these countries have some truly stunning stamps! It was a tough choice. But what clinched it for me was the fact that the selection of stamps from one of the countries included stamps depicting ships, and being an avid Ships on Stamps collector, I was sold. So which country did I choose? Well, this time around I might let you guess. Then when the the first stamps for that country, which I have already ordered, arrive, I'll do a reveal. So stay tuned...

Until the reveal day...

Stay Slania Crazy!

1952 Airmail Stamps

In 1952 Poland issued a set of four Airmail stamps. Czeslaw Slania was responsible for engraving two of these stamps. As all Slania buffs know, he was known occasionally to strategically place the names of important people in his life in his stamps. A close look at one of the stamps in this set reveals not one but two names!

The theme of the four 1952 Airmail stamps was an aircraft flying over various locations in Poland. On lookong at the stamps I got to wondering what type or types of aircraft were depicted on the stamps. A search of the Heindorff site told me that the planes were Ilyushins. So I looked up Ilyushins to discover that there were many, many different types of plane made by this company. Ilyushin is a Russian based aircraft manfacturer that opened in 1933. They make Fighters, Bombers, Transport Planes, Passenger Planes and others. So which type is depicted on the Slania engraved stamps? Well, first let's take a look at the stamps...

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An Ilyushin flying over Polish freighters

An Ilyushin flying over Warsaw

To me both stamps depict the same type of plane. If you look closely you'll see that both planes have windows along the fuselage, which suggests the possibility of a transport or passenger plane. I spent some time looking at images of both types of plane manufactured by Ilyushin. My initial conclusion was that the plane was a IL-14, but a follower has let me know that Polish catalogues list it as an IL-12. After looking it up, I have to agree! The IL-12 was a twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that was developed in the mid 1940's. Here is an image of an Ilyushin IL-12...

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What about those mysterious hidden words? On which of the two stamps can they be found? And just what are these words? 

Well, the hidden words are in the 1,40zt Ilyushin over Warsaw stamp. But where? Take another look at the stamp. Can you see them? If you can't see them focus on the trees on the left of the stamp. Here is a close-up to  help...

The word written across the top of the trees is "Majewska" in reference to Slania's sister's surname. The other name, written vertically down the left margin, is 'Lilka". This name refers to a family member in the Majewska family. I personally love these little messages left by Slania. They add an extra element of fun to the stamps!

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse On...A Long Awaited Arrival

Hello to all my fellow Slania collectors! It's been quite a while since my last blog. The ear condition that I mentioned in a previous blog has started to go away, but I have to say I've had quite a few horrid days in the last three months, hence the small number of blogs. One thing I have learned about the ear condition is that I mustn't let it rule me and I have to get on with life as normal, which is why I'm sitting here right now with the noises screaming in my head - it'll settle again by tomorrow. But anyway enough of that stuff!!

In May I wrote a very excited blog sharing the news that I had purchased a beautiful Slania catalogue. Click HERE to view the blog. I purchased the catalogue from Canada so I expected a bit of a wait. What I didn't expect was an epic comedy of errors spanning some three months! It all began when, after waiting for two months for the catalogue to arrive with no responses from the seller (I purchased the catalogue on ebay), I had to get a refund on the catalogue. This was massively disappointing, as the catalogue I found happened to have postage that I could actually afford. Generally, the postage for this particular catalogue runs in the neighbourhood of $50-70. This on top of a book price of $60-80 made the catalogue impossible to get. After a few dejected days (not helped by the noises in the noggin!) I recalled a conversation I had with a stamp seller from Poland, a lovely fellow named Andrzej. He had offered me a catalogue at a reasonable price. I didn't know what constituted a reasonable price to him. So I wrote to him to find out. He got back to me straight away with a price which happened to be less than what I had paid for the one from Canada! I was stoked! So I purchased the catalogue from him.

Then a few days ago the story came to an incredible conclusion. First the catalogue from Canada actually finally arrived - after only three month! The day after the postman delivered another package. What was it? You guessed it - the catalogue from Poland! So now I have not one, but two Slania catalogues! So if any of you out there is hunting for a Slania catalogue, drop me a note and I'll let you know how much the catalogue + postage will come to.

I have probably already bored you to tears with my ramblings, but just as a final note I want to let you know that I'll be working hard on blog updates over the next few weeks. I have received quite a few Slania stamps and banknotes, so I have a lot of material to cover. Fun, fun, fun. And now that my Slania catalogue has finally arrived I think I'll do an extended review of it with some pros and cons that might help you decide if the catalogue is for you. So...

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Dean Acheson

Czeslaw Slania worked with the postage service of the United States just a small number of times, but the limited collaboration produced some truly wonderful stamps. In this blog I'll be taking a good look at the 1993 US stamp depicting Dean Acheson.

Dean Acheson (1893-1971) was the Secretary of State for the United States of America bewteen 1949 and 1953 during the administration of Harry S. Truman. Now before you get too concerned,  I'm not going to sit here and prattle on about politics - a field I'll freely admit to having very little interest in. But it would be remiss of me not to mention a few things about the man. From a little research it appears that Acheson played a key role in helping President Truman navigate through the early days of the Cold War. He helped to design the Marshall Plan, which was an intiative to provide aid to Europe after WWII. The US gave some $13 billion to assist in the reconstruction of European economies. Acheson was also a central figure in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - otherwise known as NATO.

One of the terrible results of global tensions from the Cold War was the eruption of the Korean War, often referred to as 'the forgotten war', which raged from 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953. The horrible nature of this war was well captured in the TV series MASH. MASH transformed this war from the 'forgotten war' to one that is now remebered. I mention the Korean War because Dean Acheson famously ( or infamously, whichever you prefer) convinced President Truman to intervene in the war in June 1950.

Now enough with the politics. Let us take a look at the stamp depicting Dean Acheson, engraved by Slania. I have always thought that portraits- and the details within - can be a great way to judge the skill of an engraver. There are many stamp engravers out there who have etched many fine portraits,  but to me none compare to Slania's incredible ability to etch such exquisite details in his portraits.

First, let's look at the full stamp, and then I'll look a bit closer at some of the details that I find captivating.

When I look at this stamp my eye seems to be drawn to the steepled fingers. A zoomed in shot reveals just how detailed the skin is. The creases and the wrinkles have been rendered so efficiently as to be almost three dimensional.

My eye is then drawn to the moustache. The lines are so crisp and life like that I fully expect his mouth to move and that moustache to bristle!

What areas of this stamp draw your eye?

Until next time...
Stay Stamp Crazy!

I Found...Lovely Birds

I have always had a bit of a fondness for birds on stamps, but since I am already overwhelmed both in budget and in time with many, many thematic collections already, I decided it was probably best not to delve too deeply into birds on stamps. About a month ago my resolve over this decision was - to say the least - shaken. A friend posted up on Facebook a truly beautiful owl stamp from Monaco. If only I could squeeze this lovely stamp into one of my collections.

Until tonight I couldn't really justify getting the stamp. After all it would sit in one of my boxes with nowhere to go. Not a fitting place for such a great stamp. But last night I happened to be looking at the stamps Slania engraved for Monaco in 1993 and lo and behold ... the bird stamp that I love in a set! By Slania! I had found a slot for the stamp. Hurray!

Of course, I rushed over to ebay to search for a copy of the set or at the very least the stamp itself. I found a set pretty easily ... but, BUT it was far more expensive than I had thought. I'll admit this was a bit of a blow. But I had to have that stamp! I'm sure we've all felt that way at one time or another. So I bit the proverbial bullet and went ahead and grabbed the stamp set.

By now you are probably saying: "What is this set he is raving about?" Well, I'll show you. Bear in mind this is an ebay image so the resolution may not be the best...

By the way, the stamp I initially fell in love with is the owl on the top left. I am very happy with this purchase - even though it extended the weekly budget a tad.

Until next time...
Stay Slania Crazy!

I Received... A Fantastic Cover!

A couple of weeks ago I made an ebay purchase from a seller in the USA which included six of the nine stamps engraved by Slania for the USA. Most sellers these days tend to simply whack whatever stamp is available at the post office onto the cover and send it off, no fuss. So this is what I have come to expect, a boring cover that goes in the bin as soon as I remove the goodies from it. So you can imagine my great surprise and delight when I pulled this cover from my mailbox...

Isn't it just fantastic! This is a cover from a seller who thinks about his clients and works to create covers that add a nice touch to ones collection.  Not only has the seller printed a nice cache on the lefthand side of the cover, he has also added a couple Slania engraved stamps plus one with a Polish theme (Slania's home country) and an Australian joint issue (my home country). Even more surprising was the nice cancels on these stamps - a practice that is extremely rare these days. I don't mean to sound bitter, but I have had more covers than I can count sent to me with pen scribbles all over the stamps in lieu of a cancel. Anyway, I was well pleased with this awesome cover and I thought I'd share it with you.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Found...A Nice Illustrated Book

As regular readers of this blog will know, I'm currently working on building Slania's Poland issues. I have been lucky enough to come to know a great Polish ebay seller who has pretty much all I need - and at reasonable prices. A couple of days ago this seller sent me a link to a couple of Slania books he is selling. One of them is the Slania catalogue my wife recently bought for me (and I'm still waiting for it to arrive). If you haven't read that blog yet click HERE The other book he sent me a link to I had never seen before. So I thought I'd do a blog having a bit of a look at it.

The book is entitled: My Great Artists - Slania, Naszarkowski, Heidrich. I've only been able to glean what's in the book by a series of pics the seller has provided on ebay. It looks to me like it explores three different graphic artists - Slania being one of them - and how they go about producing the artworks that eventually become stamps. The book was written by a fellow named Zygmunt K. Jagodzinski. The book is 186 pages and it includes some excellent illustrations. The text is in both Polish and English - the same as the Slania catalogue I recently reviewed. Unfortunately the photos aren't really that clear, but from what I could read the text seems quite informative regarding the process of designing a stamp. And who better to learn what goes into creating a great stamp the Czeslaw Slania!

The book also includes the work of two other engravers/designers. Being new to the study of stamp engravers I can honestly say I had heard of neither of these two gentlemen. So I did a bit of net trawling and here's what I found. Poitr Naszarkowski was born in Poland in 1952. He started his engraving career in Poland. In 1989 he started engraving for Sweden. His 100th stamp engraving was a Greta Garbo joint issue with USA. I haven't found much yet on Andrzej Heidrich. What I have found suggests he designed stamps for Poland. I found on the net some dinosaur stamps he designed.  I'll have to see if I can discover more on him.

I'll add a couple of photos, but please be aware they are not mine and the quality isn't too flash. Photographing pages from a book without damaging the spine can be a tricky business. But it'll give you an idea, anyway.

As to the price of this book...well, as you would expect it is expensive. To get it shipped to Australia I'd be looking to pay something in the region of $95. It is always disappointing when you spot such a lovely book - one that would fit so well on the shelf - and then be blown away by the price tag. Oh well, maybe one day. If anyone out there owns a copy of this book or has been fortunate enough to read it let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear what you think...

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Sweden-USA Joint Issue

In 1983 Sweden and the USA issued a joint stamp issue commemorating the bicentenary of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1783. Czeslaw Slania was given the task of engraving a stamp for both countries.  The stamps are basically identical aside from the country name and the stamp value. Depicted on the stamp is a man who hardly needs any introduction - Benjamin Franklin. In this blog I'll provide a brief rundown of the 1783 Treaty. Then I'll discuss what are perhaps some of Benjamin Franklin's lesser known achievements. And of course there'll be pics of the stamps in question!

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On 3 April 1783 representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Sweden met in Paris, France to discuss a treaty of amity between the two countries. It is important to note that the US was embroiled in a Revolutionary War at this time. Paris was chosen for this auspicious meeting since the representative for the United States was at that time based in Paris. That man was Benjamin Franklin. The Swedish representative was the ambassador to the court of France, Count Gustaf Philip Creutz. This was rather an important treaty historically,  in that it was the first treaty signed by the US with a country not involved in the Revolutionary War. Having signed this treaty Sweden was the first country to recognize the young republic of the US. For a rundown of the provisions of this treaty - if you happen to be interested in such things - click HERE

The stamps engraved by Slania for this occasion are truly brilliant. The detail in Franklin's coat and the treaty seal are fantastic...

And now to Benjamin Franklin. In order to write an in depth biography of Benjamin Franklin I'd need far more space than I usually allow for a blog - probably need a rather large book actually! So what I'll do here is try to concentrate on some of the things about Benjamin Franklin that aren't common knowledge. At least this is what I hope to do. I'm sure that to some people out there all the stuff I'm about to mention is known, if so perhaps you could indulge me in my ignorance :)

First off let's quickly get acquainted with Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17 1706. He died on April 17 1790 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the ripe old age of 84. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States.  He was also a renowned polymath - basically a person who has expertise in a number of different areas. Let's see... He was an author, politician, postmaster (which we'll come back to in a bit), scientist, inventor, civil activist and more! One wonders how the man had the time to scratch himself!

Now to some things about this great man that I personally didn't know.  Ben Franklin is rather famous for his inventions such as bifocal glasses and the lightning rod. But I did not know that he also invented the flexible urinary catheter. I also didn't know that he never chose to patent any of his inventions, believing that they should be freely accessible to all.

Franklin also revitalized the idea of Paying it Forward. This is the concept of doing a good deed of some kind to a person and instead of the person paying you back they in turn do a good deed for someone else. An excellent practice in my opinion. This idea was first introduced as a key plot in Menander's play Dyskolos (The Grouch) which was performed in Athens in 317 BC. In a letter to Benjamin Webb dated 25 February 1874 Ben Franklin suggests the use of such a concept.

I also didn't realize Ben Franklin was the first Postmaster General of the United States.  And interestingly, aside from George Washington,  Ben Franklin appears on US postage stamps more than any other famous person. He first appeared on a US postage stamp in 1847, and

he appeared on the famous long-running Washington-Franklin series from 1908 to 1923. And many more issues, but amazingly on only a few commemorative issues.

Below is a copy of the 1847 stamp of Benjamin Franklin.

"Franklin SC1 1847" by Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by User:Stefan4 using CommonsHelper.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_SC1_1847.jpg#/media/File:Franklin_SC1_1847.jpg

Well, that's it for now. This blog turned out a bit longer than I'd first thought. I hope you found it of some interest. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Found...A Possible Flaw!

Over the past few weeks I've been working on completing Slania's 1952 Poland stamps. I have found gathering this set on my tight budget quite the challenge! There are 21 stamps to collect for this particular year. Doesn't seem overly daunting, but when you take into account that some of the stamps are a part of rather expensive sets it becomes more challenging (and I always try to get full sets even if Slania only engraved one of the stamps). Well, I'm happy to report that - due a restless night and some web surfing - I just purchased the final stamp I required for the 1952 year set. The stamp in question was the "Training Ship Dar Pormorza", which is part of a 3 stamp set entitled: Day of Shipyard Workers.

After I had purchased this set I took a closer look at the Slania engraved stamp in the set. I happened to notice a small fault on the stamp around the 'S' of Polska. Now I know next to nothing about the stamps of Poland, so I guess I'm wondering is this a constant flaw or simply an ink error on this stamp? The following is an image from the seller's page so the quality isn't the best, but it's clear enough to see what I'm talking about. When I get the stamp I'll do a hi-res scan of it.

If anyone has any information relating to this stamp I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time...

Stay Stamp Crazy!

Victor Hugo

1952 was the 150th anniversary of the birth of the famous French author and poet, Victor Hugo. To commemorate this anniversary Poland issued a lovely stamp engraved by Czeslaw Slania. This wasn't the only stamp commemorating Victor Hugo released that year, but more on that later.

Born in 1802 in Besancon, France, Victor Hugo (1802-1885) spent his youth amid the political turmoil of Napoleon's reign as emperor. Hugo's father was a ranking officer in Napoleon's army and in this capacity his family travelled extensively with him. Despite the fact that he was only five years old at the time, Hugo vividly remembered a six month trip to Naples, during which he saw Rome, the Mediterranean, and the snowy alpine passes. Such experiences he would later draw upon in his poetry.

Hugo's parents had vastly different political views. This coupled with the fact that she resented the children being dragged all over the place led to the couple getting a divorce. From this point, Hugo's mother took control of his education. Her influence is evident in the early works of Hugo, which convey her devotion to monarchy and the Catholic faith.

Eventually, Hugh broke the shackles of his mother's beliefs, and after the 1848 Revolution he championed republicanism and free-thinking. It was in this same year that Hugo entered parliament and became quite the radical. He wrote speeches which called for universal suffrage and free education for children. He was also an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Hugo went into exile after Napoleon had established an anti-parliamentary constitution in 1851. He spent his exile years up to 1870 on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey.

Victor Hugo published his first novel in 1823, entitled Han d'Islande. But he is most famous for his novels The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831 and Les Miserables in 1862. Hugo was also somewhat of an artist, producing over 4000 drawings. Initially drawing was simply a hobby, but later in life after going into political exile he stopped writing and used drawing as his creative outlet.

Slania's engraving includes a stunning portrait of Victor Hugo. A quill, inkwell, and book sit in the foreground ready for the great writer to take up and start scratching out something new...

Just as a matter of interest I have have discovered that Poland wasn't the only country to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Victor Hugo in the form of a stamp. The Soviet Union also issued its own commemorative stamp.

"Stamp of USSR 1683" by Post of USSR - http://kolekzioner.net/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=217. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stamp_of_USSR_1683.jpg#/media/File:Stamp_of_USSR_1683.jpg

Personally I prefer the Slania stamp - not because this is a Slania blog and should therefore have a Slania bias! I just think the Soviet version a bit austere for my taste. And I really like the way Slania incorporated the use of writing materials into the design.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Pedro Alvares Cabral Banknote

Between 1995 and 1997 Czeslaw Slania engraved five banknotes for Portugal. Each banknote depicted a famous explorer on the obverse (front) and an example of the type of ship used by the explorer on the reverse (back). In this blog I will focus on the 1996 1000 Escudos banknote depicting Pedro Alvares Cabral.

Little is known of the early years of Pedro Cabral. He was born in either 1467 or 1468. He was born into a minor noble family and he received a good education. In 1500 he was appointed commander-in-chief of a fleet sailing for India. As was the practice in those times a nobleman was chosen to command the fleet. These noblemen didn't necessarily have any naval experience.  It is thought by some that he was chosen for this role due to his standing in the court of the then king, King Manuel I. It was during this voyage that he is believed to have discovered Brazil. The fleet consisted of two divisions. The first division, which included Cabral's vessel, set sail from Lisbon on 9 March. On 22 April he landed at a spot of the northeastern coast of what we now call Brazil. He named this place: Monte Pascoal (Easter Mount, since it was Easter at the time). Below is a map of his full journey...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral

There is modern debate over whether he can truly be called the discoverer of this country. I make no assumptions or offer any opinions on this issue. For more on this journey and his later career click HERE

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The obverse of the 1000 Escudos banknote contains the protrait of Pedro Alvares Cabral. Interestingly no contemporary paintings survive - if any ever existed at all - of Cabral.

The reverse of the banknote contains a stunning engraving of the type of ship used by Cabral on this journey.

The ship is called a carrack. A carrack was a three- or four-masted ship developed in the 15th century by Genoese for commercial use. The Portuguese and Spanish used them for world travel and exploration. They were large enough to be stable in heavy seas, and they had plenty of internal room for storage. Just as an interesting final note, Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria, the ship that sailed to America in 1492, was a carrack.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse...How I Got a Slania Catalogue

Not too long ago I wrote a blog reviewing the Czeslaw Slania catalogue titled Czeslaw Slania: Catalogue of Works. It looked like an impressive catalogue indeed. Since I wrote that blog I've been trying to work out how to purchase a copy. If you read the review blog you'll remember that the catalogue was far from cheap! So how to get it? Well, an answer seems to have presented itself in the form of my amazing wife!

Over the last ten years or so I have been battling with a chronic illness,  which, insidiously, has caused multiple issues with my body. The latest issue began about six weeks ago in the form of terrible noises in my head. I've had these noises off and on for several years now - it's called tinnitus - and it has been manageable.  But six weeks ago something seemed to flare up in my head, bringing with it the most god awful noise! It has really worn me down. Thankfully I have begun a course of medication which is dealing with the problem, albeit slowly.

Anyway, back to the catalogue. A few days ago my wife informed me that she had purchased the catalogue! I am over the moon. And the anticipation of the arrival of the catalogue is certainly helping me during the trying times as this problem goes away. The only problem is it is coming from Canada so the anticipation may last up to four weeks! Butnnow I have it, and I will do another blog - perhaps a more in depth review - when it arrives.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Commemorating Swedish Painters

Every now and then I pay a visit to my local Art Gallery in Armidale. I love spending time surrounded by such amazing creativity.  The paintings are a definite favourite.  I find myself easily immersed in the worlds created by the artists.  So it stands to reason I also admire paintings reproduced on stamps,  especially those that have been painstakingly recreated through engraving.  Among his numerous engraving talents,  it is my humble opinion that Czeslaw Slania is a true master- perhaps the best - at bringing paintings to life on stamps through the art of engraving.  Slania replicated many fine pieces of art during his distinguished career. In this blog I shall focus on two paintings he reproduced on stamps for Sweden in 1978. The painters were both Swedish. Karl Isakson and Ivar Arosenius.

Karl Oscar Isakson (16th January, 1878 - 19th February, 1922) was a painter born in Stockholm, Sweden. He spent a large number of his painting years in Denmark. He is held in Denmark as one of the fathers of Modernism. For more on Modernism click HERE. He had a close association with the Bornholm school of Painters. A favourite subject of his was Ertholmene, a small archipelago northeast of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. This place is generally referred to as Christiansø. He also painted still-lifes and models in a Copenhagen studio.

The painting chosen to commemorate Isakson was a nude study painted between 1918-1920 not long before his death. The female subject of the painting stands with her back to us. Colourful wall-hangings and pillows in the background serve to highlight the feminine form of the subject. Slania has faithfully captured the tonal qualities of the painting through the skillful use of burin (the engraver's tool) on steel.

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Ivar Axel Henrik Arosenius (8th October, 1878 - 2nd January, 1901) was a Swedish painter. He was also the author of picture books, most notably the book Kattresan (The Cat Journey), published after he died. Some of Ivar Arosenius's paintings can be seen at the Museum of Art in Gotheburg.

The painting chosen for commemoration on a stamp was a Self-Portrait with Floral Wreath, painted in 1906. Again Slania has reproduced this rather haunting portrait - it is to me at least - in stunning detail and clarity.

These two stamps are masterpieces in and of themselves. I look forward to studying more of Slania's paintings on stamps!

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

I Muse on...To Soak or Not To Soak

A few days ago I received some Slania stamps in the mail that I had purchased from an eBay seller in Sweden.  I was delighted to see that some extra Slania stamps had been placed on the cover.  At first I thought "Great! A Slania cover. " But then I looked at the cover and noticed that - like many covers nowadays - the stamps were untouched by the postmark. This is the cover...

Then I got to thinking.  Do I keep the cover as is? Or do I soak the stamps off the cover? Since they are unblemished they'd look perfectly respectable on a hagner as Mint with no Gum. But in doing this am I compromising the quality of my collection?  Or am I simply - as is often the case - over-thinking things?

So the question stands: to soak or not to soak?

Does anyone else out there grapple with these questions?  If so, what do you do?

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Sir Rowland Hill

The current buzz in the stamp collecting world over the 175th anniversary of the Penny Black got me to thinking: "Is there any way I can link this amazing milestone with my Slania collecting blog?"

The answer is yes!

To link The Master with this event we must turn our attention to Great Britain's 1995 Pioneers of Communications issue.  This issue comprised four stamps all of which were engraved by Czeslaw Slania. but it is to the first two stamps of this set that I will focus in this blog. These two stamps commemorate Sir Rowland Hill,  the man behind Penny Postage,  as it were.

Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879) was a rather amazing man. He was an accomplished teacher, an administrator, and an inventor. One of his inventions was a rotary printing-press in the 1830's.  It was his writing of "Postal Reform: Its Importance and Practibility." in 1837 that had far-reaching effects.

At the time Sir Hill wrote this pamphlet postage fees were based on weight and the distance the letter had to travel.  Because of this,  postage was calculated on a letter by letter basis, and it wasn't the person sending the letter who paid, but the addressee.  Naturally receivers often refused to pay. I can understand this. For instance, why would one wish to pay for news one may not wish to hear?

Sir Hill's proposal became revolutionary.  He suggested the use of pre-printed envelopes,  and affixed to these postage stamps with a fixed rate of 1d per half-ounce to be paid by the sender.

The following stamp - engraved by Slania - commemorates this groundbreaking reform.

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The second Rowland Hill stamp in this set commemorates his influence in the creation of the first adhesive postage stamp - the Penny Black. So much has been written on this famous stamp that I need not go into too much detail here.  Just a brief overview should suffice.

We will start with a man by the name of William Wyon.  Mr Wyon was responsible for the design of a medal used to commemorate the visit of Queen Victoria to the City of London in1837.  This medal Iincorporated the cameo-like portrait of the queen.

Another fellow by the name of Henry corbould used this medal to produce drawings of Queen Victoria's portrait. These drawings were produced to aid the engraver Charles Heath. Charles Heath and his son Frederick were given the task of engraving the die for what became the famous Penny Black. Although from what I have read it is thought that Heath's son Frederick did most of the engraving.

Printing of the Penny Black commenced on 11th April 1840 at Perkins, Bacon and Co. The Penny Black went on sale on 1st May 1840,  but they weren't valid for postage until the 6th. Although a cover exists with a postal date of 1st May, and there were some posted on the 2nd May.

Czeslaw Slania's commemorative stamp incorporates a portrait of Sir Rowland Hill in the foreground with the famous Penny Black in the background.

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Since Slania engraved his own rendition of a Machin stamp - and a fine stamp it is if I may say so - I wonder what an engraving of the Penny Black by Slania would look like? Alas we will never know, but the idea is intriguing - it is to me, at least! In any case we do have the original Penny Black to marvel at. The following example I chose as it has my initials on it...

"Penny black" by General Post Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

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!