I was looking at this spectacular sheet again the other day and thought I ought to find out more about it
However a cursory Google search revealed little other than a few technical details (date of issue, designer etc) which surprised me (but I may be looking in the wrong place)
Does anyone have any other information about the sheet?
For example:
* it's listed as a commemorating the founding of Liberia by Ashmun. However I can't tie 1952 in woth other key dates (Liberia independence 1847, Ashmun death 1828 etc)
* background to the design. It's a very unusual design to say the least
* any info on numbers produced and how it was sold?
Comments
Not sure how useful Bileski propaganda is but I thought I would share what came in the collection I bought.
thanks
As I commented it seems odd that so little has been written about the souvenir sheet
I couldn't see anything in the LPS journal either
a) Color proof of SS design without stamps (in black, deep green, blue, red)
and
b) Color proof of SS. No stamps and stamp border in one of 8 colours
Can anyone clarify what the difference is between the 2? (maybe with a scan?)
the SS is made up of the
- SS design (the decoration/artwork around the stamps)
- the stamp centers (printed in the same color as the decoration)
- the stamp borders
for b) it actually says "... no stamps and all stamp borders in ... [one of eight colors]" !
I think this is important, because the colors refer to the stamp borders, not the design. I could be wrong, but this is my interpretation:
Color proof a) consists of the artwork only in one of four colors, no stamp centers and no stamp borders.
Color proof b) has the artwork in one color, no stamp centers, but all borders, and they are all printed in the same (one of eight) color.
I believe proofs of type b) were sold a while ago on eBay.
thanks again
On his website Manfred shows what he describes as color proofs where all the stamps are printed in the same colour - ie the artwork is the same as the original SS, the stamp (the centre in black) is the same but the stamp borders/frames are all in one colour
He shows 8:
lilac rose
scarlet
orange red
deep green
dark blue
ultra
purple
brown
Rogers/Bileski (p164) also states that there are trial colour proofs" in one colour (on gummed paper) but lists 10 colours:
blue
indigo
red
carmine
green
violet
brown
orange
ultramarine
black
These seem to almost match Manfred's:
lilac rose = carmine (?)
scarlet = red (?)
orange red = orange
deep green = green
dark blue = blue
ultra = ultramarine
purple = violet (?)
brown = brown
I'm trying to match these up with Saleski
Saleski (p170) lists 8 Color Proofs (CP-SS494B etc) saying "No stamps and all stamp borders in ... ) one colour
green
scarlet
purple
brown
blue
orange red
lilac rose
dark blue
which implies the black centre is missing unlike those shown by Manfred and mentioned by Rogers.
Saleski also lists 7 colour trials (p175) (CT-SS494B etc) saying " Grayish white paper. Outside design and centres of stamps in black as issued. But all stamps (ie stamp frames) in one colour" and mentions that shades will vary. He lists:
dull blue
ultramarine
green
brown
orange red
violet
magenta
I have (I think) one of these in brown and one in violet (the same as Manfred's shown) but Manfred lists 8 colours, Rogers 10 and Saleski 7!
Saleski then lists 4 colour trials (CT-SS494B2t) as with the previous but on "tinted paper" He then says "the black of the design will therefore vary ... so will the colour of the stamps". He lists:
emerald (very pale green)
red (very pale orange red)
violet (light lilac)
magenta (very light reddish pink)
I have 2 sheets where the paper is definitely not white or grayish white seems to have taken some of the colour of the stamps (ie could be tinted): one which is orangey-red and the other lilac/violet so I assume these could be from that set.
Can anyone comment/help any further?
Not to mention the "progressive" printings of the souvenir sheet. Sheets exist with just one frame (1 cent), two frames (1 & 2 cents) and so on until all eight finally make up the sheet. Illustrated as an example is the sheet with six values completed.