|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Reach for a Tsar |
|
| Presidential portrait |
|
|
 |
|
A green stamp and brown
block of four featuring
Napoleon, which were said
to have been issued for the
same Russian state visit by
Bourdi. |
Turning to the stamp showing the portrait of President CasimirPérier, it should be noted that it doesn't mention Toulon or Cronstadt. We assume this was for two reasons - that he had nothing to do with the actual signing of alliances, but was President of France through the negotiations. President Faure paid a return visit to Russia in 1897, and through his personal tact and savoir faire, he successfully concluded the FrancoRussian Alliance.
Bourdi (and previously Georges Chapier 'Timbres de Fantaisie') lists another stamp said to have been issued during the Royal Visit, but this showing the head of Emperor Napoleon I, and dated 1804-1818. It was May 18, 1804 when Napoleon declared himself Emperor. To our minds we feel it's difficult to conceive that these stamps were issued for the Royal Visit but, for completeness, we list them. They are found in two different forms-the first, with large margins and perforated (the green stamp illustrated), and with lines drawn around each stamp (see block of four of brown stamp) and imperforate. We have a sheet of the framed stamps in orange that unusually is printed with 11 stamps across and 11 stamps down, making a sheet of 121 stamps. The colours listed by Bourdi are for the large margined form grey-violet, pale green, purple, blue, green, yellow, red, red brown and brown. For the imperforate, framed stamp, the list is violet, indigo, blue, dark green, pale green, red and brown. We have also a pale blue variant. From our knowledge the perforated, wide-margined, stamp is much scarcer, and we doubt that Bourdi's list of colour variants is accurate. We only have an example in green. |
|
| Suffragette protest |
|
| Having talked about French cinderellas, we thought we would sign off with an unusual item. In 1900 France issued three new designs of postage stamps. One - the so called 'Mouchon' type - depicts an allegorical figure holding a tablet with the inscription 'Droits de I'homme'. Apparently, the French suffragettes objected to the wording that could be interpreted as 'The Rights of Man'. They commissioned an artist to redesign the stamp to include a tombstone with the words 'Droits de la Femme'. According to an article in the Postage Stamp (July 12, 1913), they were extensively used on correspondence by the 'Society of Universal Suffrage for Women' in 1901. We illustrate a mint example, and one tied by a postmark to an envelope dated 31st October 1901. Interestingly, the envelope is addressed to Monsieur Gebrüder Senf - the famous stamp dealing firm from Leipzig, Germany. |
|
 |
|
|
French suffragettes rejected
a male dominated 'Rights of
Man' issue of 1900 and issued
their own 'Droits de la Femme'
stamp |
|
 |
|
|
| The 'Droits de la Femme' stamp on cover to famous German stamp dealer Gebruber Senf of Leipzig |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home 