Sunday 22 March 2015

Forest Scenes by Toth

Rudolph Toth was an incredibly gifted Austrian stamp engraver. He often worked in collaboration with the designer, A. Pilch.

In 1962 Toth engraved a set of stamps for Austria showcasing some of the country's stunning forests. In my view, Toth has done an amazing job capturing the majesty of the Austrian forest.

In the first stamp, Toth depicts a Lowland Forest using various shades of grey to good affect...



The second stamp depicts a typical deciduous forest. Click HERE for more on deciduous forests.


In the final stamp of the series, Toth illustrates a fir and Larch forest.


Here is an example of the European Larch Larix decidua ...


Stay Stamp Crazy!

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Czeslaw Slania in Aland

Aland or Aland Islands is an autonomous region of Finland. It ... "consists of an archipelago lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea." (Wikipedia extract) For more info on Aland, click HERE

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In 1994 Czeslaw Slania engraved a set of three stamps for Aland, exploring Aland in the Stone Age. It is the simplicity of their design which I find the most striking. Let's take a look and you can judge for yourself.

The first stamp in the set depicts Stone Age pottery from the region.

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The second stamp in the set depicts an example of the type of housing found in the region during this period.

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The final stamp in the set gives an an insight into some of the stone tools utilised by the inhabitants of the region at the time.