Urban Views

 

1995: Trams

A photo of a tram in Stockholm on the day the country switched from driving on the left to the right in 1967.  If I had been there on that day I think I would have walked or taken the train...

1976: Views of Copenhagen

Time to take a journey from Copenhagen Central Station to Germany.  Where to go?

1993: 1000 Years of Potsdam

Perhaps Potsdam and go to a concert in St Nicholas Church, their site also promises a 'lively church service'.

2007: 1000 Years of  Fürth

Or Fürth which seems like a place small enough to amble around and enjoy the serendipity of travel. 

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Urban Scenes - visit  See It On A Postcard

Heads of State

 

1980: 200th Anniversary of the Death of Empress Maria Theresa

Empress Maria Theresa, only female monarch in Hapsburg history, pragmatic ruler in the 'Age of Enlightened Absolutism'. She brought peace to Austria, well after the little matter of the War of the Austrian Succession'. No-one was expecting a woman to rule. The stamp set show her in her youth (missing from my collection 😞), in middle age when she had had 16 children and maybe quite a few of a Hapsburg favourite, Meringue Cake (three layers of meringue filled with fruit preserve) and in her later years as a widow. Unusually for the age despite being betrothed to her future husband as a child it was a love match. After her death they found a scrap of paper in her prayer book where she had calculated the total number of years, months, days and hours they had been together.

1947-1948 Sun Yat-sen)

Jumping forward in time here is the China's 'Father of the Nation', and first president, a position he quickly resigned from. This stamp with plum blossom was issued long after his death.

1972: 90th Birthday of King Gustaf VI Adolf

This set of booklet stamps was issued with 1 kr going to the King Gustaf VI Adolf Birthday Fund for Swedish Culture. It shows some of his interests as a collector of books and graphic works, Chinese objects from his collection, reading a speech from the Swedish throne, two Greek objects d'art and the King in the garden of Solliden Castle.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Heads of State - See It On A Postcard 

This Year in Stamps

 

2022: Migratory Birds

The yellow wagtails usually arrive from Africa in April and May although they are on decline and on the red list.

2022: Cats

No red list for cats, there are millions of them, no wonder Royal Mail thought it was time to issue of set of stamps. Here we have a Siamese grooming, Ginger cat playing and a tabby doing what they do - stalking and lastly what cats do best sleeping, a British Shorthair snoozing.

2022: Pride (Design: Sophie Birkin)

Its summer so there will be a Pride event somewhere in cities and towns. The stamps mark 50 years since the Trafalgar Square march for gay rights.

2022: Seagull Mischief (Design: James Colmer)

And of course nothing better on a summer's day than an ice cream, at least that is what the seagull is thinking. It probably has its eye on the flake, so easy to swoop in and take.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - 2022 Issues - travel to  See It On A Postcard

Monochrome

 

1990: 500th Anniversary of Postal Communications in Europe

A speeding post rider celebrating 500 years of post with an Albrecht Dürer drawing 'Der Kleine Postreiter' (dated circa 1496).  The cancel on the stamp was imperfect but

1990: Lübeck Cultural Heritage

 

here it is on a stamp featuring the old part of Lübeck, 'Queen of all the Hansiatic Cities' . I had to look up how many cities were part of the Hansatic League and its a whopping 194 cities in 16 countries.

1988: Grotto Art - Maijishan

Going back even further in time to the Western Wei dynasty (535-557) here is a compassionate Bodhisattva, one of thousands of Buddhist sculptures in the 194 caves cut into the hill at Maijishan, North West China.

1988: Grotto Art in China - Longmen

 More caves this time the Longmen Grottoes , the stamp is described as Hercules. From this I'm guessing it is from the Fengxian Temple with its huge Buddha, either side of which are Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings and Hercules. Longmen, in Henan province,  has tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples.

1986: Traditional Houses

Lastly we journey from caves to houses in Fujian.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Monochrome - See It On A Postcard

Literary Greats

 

1975: Jane Austen Birth Bicentenary (Design - Barbara Brown)

Lots of Mr Darcy and a lone Catherine Morland emerge from the pages of Jane Austen

2004: 200th Anniversary of the Birth of George Sand

 

The steady gaze of George Sand at her house in Nohant

1968: UNESCO - Cultural Personalities of the 20th Century

Maxim Gorky travelling across Russia

1996: Europa - Famous Women

and Madame de Sévigné is about to write a witty letter

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Literary Greats - See It On A Postcard