Czeslaw Slania
It feels like an age since I did my last blog post! In that space I have been keeping busy checking out, what is for me, a different type of stamp collection - engravers. To be honest, till recently I'd never really given much thought to who engraved what stamp. Then, just before Christmas, a stamp friend sent me some stamps engraved by Rudolph Toth, an Austrian engraver. The instant I saw the amazing details, I was hooked!! That very night I jumped on the net and started surfing, searching for engravers. I found to my delight and dismay there are plethora talented engravers out there. Besides Toth, two engravers stood out to me. One was Albert Decaris, an incredibly talented French engraver. The other engraver needs no introduction to those in the stamping world - Czeslaw Slania.
In the coming weeks I'll take a look at some of the works of Toth and Decaris, but today is all about Slania.
I did some basic research into Slania and found this great website: I quickly discovered that Slania's first stamp engraving as an apprentice was a part engraving on a stamp from Poland issued in 1950. Turns out Slania engraved the metal head of the axe on the left hand side of the stamp. Seeing this cool bit of info, I immediately knew how to start my collection - right at the beginning. So I have. I just purchased the stamp plus a proof that, I believe, came in a special booklet.
I'm rather chuffed, and I can't wait till they arrive. When they do, I'll post higher resolution scans.
Stay Stamp Crazy!!
