THE NEW STAMPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21538, 9 January 1932, Page 2

THE NEW STAMPS

LONG WAY FROM READY DETAILS OP DESIGNS. The end of 1932 should see New Zealanders using for their letters the new pictorial stamps. In the latter part of last year a competition was held for the purpose of selecting the new designs. Some of the winning designs in this competition required slight alteration before being used, and this has caused a delay in the staging of the promised exhibition of designs by winners and “ also-rans.” Further time must necessarily elapse before the plates from which the stamps are to be printed can be made. The plates will be made in England, by experts in the art, but the actual printing of the stamps will be done in the Dominion. The stamps of lower value, from the halfpenny to the threepenny, may possibly be produced by the photogravure process, in which case their appearance will be greatly enhanced. The stamps of higher value the set runs up to three shillings will be lineengraved, and it is more than probable that those of the four higher values —ninepence, and the one, two, and three shillings—will be printed in two colours. The mention of colours raises an interesting point. The depression has resulted in the minimum postage for letters being increased to twopence, but this is obviously not considered by the authorities to be a permanent measure. There have been no alterations in the colours of the present stamps to coincide with this change in rates and to conform with the Postal Union regulations, and the approved colour of the penny stamp in the forthcoming set is red, and that of the twopenny one yellow. It would appear, therefore, as if there is an intention to reinstate penny postage as soon as practicable, at any rate by the time the new set is ready for use. DETAILED DESIGNS.

The designs of the new stamps have been briefly described, but as yet no reproduction has been permitted. Fuller details of the designs than heretofore published, however, have been obtained by the New Zealand Stamp Collector from Sir R. Heaton Rhodes (one of the committee responsible for judging the designs), and from several of the successful artists.

The fantail in clematis on the halfpenny stamp is taken from a plate in Bullet’s “ Birds of New Zealand,” the outspread tail of the bird being very cleverly adapted to complete an effective design. The kiwi on the penny stamp is another New Zealand bird which has found its way into the set, and the stamp is an effective one. The design for the lsd stamp shows a Maori girl in Native costume lowering a food basket into a boiling spring. A Maori whare has been effectively used for the design for the 2d stamp. The 2Jd stamp has on it a picture of Mount Cook with local lilies. Mountains also figure on two other stamps of the set; Mitre Peak on the 4d, and Egmont on the 3s. The last mentioned is considered by some to be the outstanding design in the set. The head of a Maori girl on the 3d stamp, and Maori ornamentation and decoration on the 9d stamp, draw attention to the Native population. Sport to be had in the Dominion will be advertised by the 6d stamp, which depicts a swordfishing scene, and it should help to attract deep-sea fishermen to these coasts. New Zealand’s unique tuatara lizard is honoured by a portrait on the 8d stamp. Reaping and droving are the designs for the 6d and Is stamps respectively. Incidentally, the design for the sixpenny stamp is the only one submitted from outside New Zealand to win a prize in the competition. The landing of Captain Cook, the design for the 2s stamp, has been treated somewhat symbolically. PREVIOUS PICTORIALS.

When the centenary of the adhesive postage stamp comes to be celebrated, as it will be in eight years’ time, reviews of the world’s best stamps might possibly include some of New Zealand’s pictorial set of 1898 and the following years. Some of these were very fine, and if the new set is as good or better it will be a fine advertisement for the Dominion. This original pictorial set, now unknown to many who are not collectors, possibly include some of New Zealand scenery in all cases except three, the exceptions being birds. Mount Cook, Lake Taupo, Milford Sound, Lake Wakatipu, the Otira Gorge, and the lost Terraces were among the designs. Opinions naturally differed as to which was the best of these, s. ups. Many liked best the penny one in two colours of Lake Taupo with the mountains in the background. The cost of printing it in two colours, however, was too much, so the design was subsequently transferred to the 4d stamp. The kiwi figured on the sixpenny stamp, as it does on the new penny one, but neither in that set nor in the new one does the moa find a place, although a wide welcome will probably be extended to the tuatara, which is making its first appearance in philately. New Zealand has had a few other pictorial stamps, notably the pictorial issue of four values to commemorate the Christchurch Exhibition of 1900. But these, like the South African War commemorative stamp, depicted scenes in history rather than scenes in Nature. THE ORIGINAL IDEA.

When the adhesive postage stamp was first introduced into Great Britain in 1840, soon to be copied by other countries, there was no thought of having anything else on the stamp save the ruling Sovereign’s head. Some countries adopted plain numerals as a design, but it was many years before anything in the way of pictorial stamps was thought of. In these days pictorial sets are common, and some arc very beautiful in spite of the necessarily small size. Other designs now common include ships, trains, aeroplanes, bridges, buildings, animals, birds, reptiles, flowers, natives, and native scenes. So New Zealand with her new set is only following the fashion.