Poland 1954 - Planes over Poland

The Ilyushin Il-12 was a Soviet twin-engine aircraft designed for private airline and military usage. Development of the Il-12 began in the autumn of 1943. On 1 May 1947, the Il-12 was revealed to the public. It was part of a group of aircraft that participated in the annual May Day flyby over Red Square in Moscow. In June 1947 the Il-12 was used for its first passenger service with Aeroflot. Its first international run was the Moscow-Sofia route in 1948. Poland was the first export customer for the Il-12. LOT Polish Airlines placed an order for five Il-12B's. The planes were first seen at the Poznan Fair in Poland in the spring of 1948.

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On 9 July 1954 Poland issued a set of six Airmail stamps. Five of the stamps were designed by Czeslaw Slania. He also engraved two stamps in the set. Interestingly, Slania submitted designs for all six of the stamps. Each stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over a landmark of Poland.

The 60gr stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over Paczkow Castle. This stamp was designed by Slania and engraved by J. Miller.

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The 80gr stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over Kazimierz Dolny. This stamp was designed and engraved by Czeslaw Slania. 

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The 1,15zl stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over Wawel Castle, Krakow. This stamp was designed by Czeslaw Slania and engraved by Stefan Lukaszewski.

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The 1,50zl stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over City Hall, Wroclaw. This stamp was designed by B. Brandt and engraved by Czeslaw Slania.

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The 1,55zl stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over Lazienki Park, Warsaw. This stamp was designed by Czeslaw Slania and engraved by B. Brandt. Interestingly, this is the opposite engraver/designer order to the previous stamp.

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The 1,95zt stamp depicts an Il-12B flying over Krakow Gate, Lublin. This stamp was designed by Czeslaw Slania and engraved by M.R. Polak (Slania's mentor).

Each of these amazing stamps deserves a blog of its own, which I plan to do in the near future. So keep an eye out.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Poland 1954 - Ordensburg Castle in Olsztyn

The War of the Cities, also known as the Thirteen Years War was was fought between 1454-1466. The Prussian Confederation and her allies the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland fought against the State of the Teutonic Order. The origins of the war can be traced back to 1440 when the city of Allenstein (known in Polish as Olsztyn) rebelled against Teutonic Knight leadership. This all came to a head in 1454 when all of Prussia sought to gain independence from the Teutonic Knights. Unable to accomplish this alone, Prussia formally requested the aid of Poland. They were so in need they were willing to have their land absorbed into the Kingdom of Poland. Poland's king, Casimir IV, agreed to help, An so began the war. The conflict ended with a victory for Prussia and her Polish allies. This, of course, is a very brief summary. For the full story, click HERE.

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On 16 October 1954, Poland issued a set of five stamps commemorating the 500th anniversary of the return of the region of Pomerania to Poland after the Thirteen Years War. Pomerania is located in northern Europe on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea. Interestingly, Pomerania was not returned until 1466 at the end of the war, but the stamp was issued in 1954 which, as we know from above, was the year the war began. I'm sure there is a valid reason for this, which my cursory study didn't uncover.

The highest value stamp in this set, the 1.55zt stamp, was engraved by Czeslaw Slania. The subject of the stamp is the city of Olsztyn (Allenstein in German), which was the city that rebelled in 1440 as mentioned above.

I believe the focus of this stamp is Ordensburg Castle, the construction of which began to 1347.  It was built by the Teutonic Knights as a stronghold against the Old Prussians. Below is an image of the castle, which we can use to identify the building on the stamp. The circular tower is easily recognisable from the stamp. If you look to the top left of the building you can just make out stepped decorations that are the same as on the frontage on the top of the central building on the stamp.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Poland 1953 - FSC Truck Factory in Lublin

The Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych is an automobile factory in Lublin, Poland, that specialised in large motor vehicles, such as light trucks. The factory is more commonly known by the acronym FSC. The FSC was founded in 1950, and the first vehicle to roll off the assembly line was the FSC Lublin-51 on 7 November 1951. The Lublin-51 was a Soviet truck manufactured by the company GAZ, the first prototype for which was produced before the end of WWII. It went into full production in 1946. The Lublin factory obtained the license to manufacture the vehicle in their factory in 1950.

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In 1953 Poland issued a set of 2 semi-postal stamps featuring the FSC in Lublin. Both stamps feature the same design by Czeslaw Slania. The stamps were engraved by MR Polak.

In these stamps we can see the production line in action, as two workers add parts to the Lublin-51. In the background is a vehicle at an earlier stage of production. 

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The 1953 FSC Lublin stamp design is similar to Poland's 1952 stamps featuring the automobile factory in Zeran. This particular design was engraved by Slania, and he even went so far as to add his own face to one of the workers. 

For more on the 1952 issue click HERE.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!

Faroe Islands 1980 - Saintly Carvings

Who would have thought that the world's oldest church still in use today stands on a volcanic island way up in the North Atlantic. And this very church has a connection with the stamp engraving guru, Czeslaw Slania. That church is Saint Olav's, and its origins date to the 12th Century. The church is located in the village of Kirkjubøur on the island of Streymoy in the Faroe Islands.

So what is the connection between Czeslaw Slania and Saint Olav's. Well, pull up a pew and I shall tell you (the bad joke will become apparent in a minute). It all started back in medieval times when it was decided it would be nice to decorate the ends of the church pews of Saint Olav's with elaborate carvings. Pews are the long benches found in churches upon which parishioners sit. The ends, generally wooden, are often decorated. Below is an example.

Take this type of decoration and multiply it by a factor of 100 and you may start getting close to the beautifully carved pew ends that were housed in Saint Olav's. Below is one of the pews, all of which are now located in the National Museum of the Faroe Islands.

These pew ends are such fine pieces of art that the Faroe Islands Postal Authority decided to celebrate their beauty by featuring them on a set of stamps. Czeslaw Slania was picked to do the engravings. There were four stamps initially printed, and these were issued on 8 October 1980. Two subsequent sets of four were issued in 1984 and 2001. In this blog I will focus on the first set of four issued in 1980.

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The first pew end carving depicts Mary and the baby Jesus. Not surprisingly, Slania has managed to capture the intricate details of the wooden carving as only a master engraver can.

Studying a close-up of Mary and baby Jesus, we can see that Slania remained faithful to the original piece of art, even down to its irregularities.

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The second stamp in the series depicts the carved image of St. John the Baptist.

A close-up of St. John the Baptist. I love the halo.

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The third stamp in the series depicts St. Peter. This pew end has the addition of the face of Jesus above St. Peter.

Close-ups of St. Peter and Jesus.

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The final stamp in this series depicts the carving of St. Paul.

A close-up of St. Paul.

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The detail Slania has achieved on each and every one of these stamps is truly exquisite. My only criticism of the set is the choice of background colours of the first two stamps. I personally don't like the colours at all. But that is just my preference.

Until next time...

Stay Slania Crazy!