Pets

Cats seem to rule the internet (possibly in their quest for world domination) so it is appropriate that this Alderney set of stamps is called "In Praise of the Cat".

1996: In Praise of the Cat

The artist is the Guernsey born Peter Le Vasseur; I wonder if he has some mischievous cats of his own?

Balls of wool and playful cats seem to go together and also the warning to keep them away from the fish tank

1975: Aquarium Fish

especially if one doesn't want a veil-tailed goldfish to go missing. The stamp engraver is the prolific, and award winning,  Josef Hercík (1922-1999)

1996: Australian Pets (Designer: Dianne Cook)

If you are highly energetic and enjoy long walks then maybe the pet of choice would be a Blue Heeler dog, they are also highly intelligent so like to be entertained.  As a working dog breed they are also called Australian Cattle Dogs and nip at the heels of the cattle they herd, could be useful for rounding up small children.

1974: Young Animals

For an easier and more relaxing life perhaps try a fluffy baby bunny.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Pets - enjoy more companions on See It On A Postcard

Street Scene

Sedan Chair, Seoul, Korea

A moment captured in time as a group of men walk quickly towards us with their coats flying outwards with their movement. The overcoats are called durumagi a traditional garment worn not only against the cold but for ceremonial purposes.  I've shown this card before on my blog (back in 2011), but it is one of my favourites so how could I resist using it for the 'Street Scene' theme.  

I wonder who is hidden from view in the sedan chair?   The uses of the sedan chair (or gama) in Korea are summed up by Wikipedia in a paragraph

 "In Korea, royalty and aristocrats were carried in elaborately decorated litters called gama. Gamas were primarily used by royalty and government officials. There were six types of gama, each assigned to different government official rankings. In traditional weddings, the bride and groom are carried to the ceremony in separate gamas. Because of the difficulties posed by the mountainous terrain of the Korean peninsula and the lack of paved roads, gamas were preferred over wheeled vehicles".

 The card was sent in 1907, not from Korea, but the the seaside town of Weymouth on the south coast of England to Staines just outside London

and as it was the 23rd December then it comes a message "I must wish a very merry Christmas, hoping you are well and got better weather than we have" .

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Traditional Street Scene - walk over to Connections to the World

Filming

1985: British Film Year

From the plasters on Peter Sellers head I would guess that this photograph by Bill Brandt is from an Inspector Clouseau film. I always enjoy film stills and also the lighting used in photographs from the classic era of movies

The photographer Angus McBean used lighting in his portraiture in a highly individual way. He was invited to photograph Vivien Leigh as a young actress in a stage performance and would continue to photograph almost every performance from stage to screen for thirty years. The stamp shows a photograph taken in 1938.

The photographer Howard Coster specialised in photographing men so Alfred Hitchcock fits that gender specific requirement. I think this might be one of a group of photographs he took in 1936.  The stamps in this British Film Year set all have signatures on them in gold which shows up better on the stamps themselves, although not brilliantly so.  The choice of photogravure printing by the designer Keith Bassford doesn't help.

2004: Black Heritage

 A six year campaign and about a quarter of a million signatures eventually brought the singer and actor Paul Robeson to grace one of the Black Heritage stamp.  His fight for social justice, equal rights and his socialist politics made it a controversial choice for some and indeed his passport had been revoked in 1950 for which he had a long fight of eight years to get back. Not only a wonderful voice but a fighter for justice, the quote from when he performed a interracial concert in 1949 and was attacked by a racist mob while the police stood by shows his courage   “I’m going to sing wherever the people want me to sing … and I won’t be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere else"  The photograph is from the studio of Annette and Basil Zarov.

2016: Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition

 Next we have an heroic photographer, Frank Hurley, part of the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica, war starting as they set out in 1914. The iconic picture of Endurance being crushed in pack ice (80 miles from their destination) in 1915 is probably the most famous. Eventually having to abandon the ship

and camp on the ice it would not be until August 1916 that everyone, incredibly, was safe.  Frank Hurley not only photographed but took motion pictures of their long ordeal.

Feeling a bit cold?

2007: Island Jewels

Much nicer here on Fraser Island off the SE coast of Queensland, the aboriginal name is K'gari which translates as Paradise.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - photography - click to See It On A Postcard    

Feather

The card says on the back "Canada owes much to its First Nation people the true founders of our country" but it doesn't elaborate on what tribe our dancer is from as he swirls into view in a flurry of feathers and fringes on the postcard, or what the dance celebration is although it is possibly the Grass Dance seen here

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Traditional Celebration at Connections to the World  

Post On The Move

1958:  Sea and Helicopter Mail

The mail is journeying across the planet and Sweden commemorated "the many hundreds of years of Sea Mail Services over the North Atlantic and the 10th anniversary of Helicopter Mail Service in the Stockholm Archipelago"  with the set of stamps seen on the FDC.

The featured ship was the Gripsholm II,(1957-2001) a cruise liner which today lies on the sea bed off Cape of Good Hope having avoiding the final indignity of being broken up by ship breakers.  I am not sure if the helicopter is arriving or departing but glad to see the postmaster is wearing his winter gloves.

1996: Mail Carriages 1862-1996

More Swedish mail transport, this time a sorting mail carriage.  The service ceased in March 1996 and carriages were taken out of use from 1st April 1996 as all the mail was then being sorted at terminals and post offices. The cover cancellation is from the Stockholm-Malmo line.

The stamp shows work in a modern mail carriage but the tradition was a long one as the first mail carriage was established in 1862 travelling between Stockholm and Gothenburg. The service grew and at its peak in the 1930s there were 258 of them.

An entry to Sunday Stamps theme - Commemorative - See It On A Postcard

Costumes

Dancing towards us resplendent in traditional costumes are women of Italy, Spain, Turkey and Germany.  There is no information on the back of the card of as to where the illustration is from and the only clue from the front is a plate number - 76 (or 16) which would indicate it is part of a series or perhaps from a very large book.

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Traditional Costumes - dress to impress at Connections to the World 

Places of Worship

1982-1988 Irish Architecture

This is a church built as a royal chapel for Cormac McCarthy which was consecrated in 1134 and today is called Cormac's Chapel.  Because of a crozier found in his tomb it is thought that Cormac was not only a king but also a bishop.  This Romanesque chapel in County Tipperary can be found on the Rock of Cashel, traditional seat of the kings of Ulster for hundreds of years.

1982-1988 (Drawings Michael Craig; Graphics Peter Wildbur)

A 6th Century Oratorium sits on the uninhabited rocky red granite St MacDara Island off the coast of County Galway.  MacDara is the patron saint of fishermen so every year in July people travel to the island from Carna for mass and a blessing of boats to keep them safe for the coming year. (Seafarers Pilgrimage photos here)

Churches, chapels and monasteries appeared on Brazil's Cultural Heritage definitives of 1986-88

St Lawrence of the Indians church, Sao Roque

St Francis's Monastery, Olinda

St Anthony's Chapel, Sao Roque

When the stamp below was issued in 1925, the illustration was referred to as the "new" Sofia Cathedral.

The gilt domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is the largest Eastern Orthodox Cathedral in the world, can hold 10,000 people and is also a symbol of the city.  Construction started in 1882 and was completed in 1912.

The oldest of the structures featured on my stamps today is

1931-41: Land and People

the square minaret of the Grand Mosque in Tunis which was built in 732. 

Lastly is a church with a beautiful view of Lake Lugano, the church of San Georgio Castagnola. In the background is Monte San Salvatore where you can ride a funicular to the top and find a 80m high TV tower and from whose viewing platform one can enjoy a 360 degree vista of lake, land and mountains.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Places of worship - pray visit See It On A Postcard

Embroidery

A fierce, if rather surprised looking, dragon from a detail on a silk Chinese dragon robe c1900.  Most dragon robes have a large dragon in the centre of the garment with smaller dragons on the sleeves and on the hem. Chinese emperors, court members and officials all wore dragon robes on special occasions but the types would be differ depending on status, only the five clawed dragon could be worn by the emperor.  The palace's tailor shop employed hundreds of artisans to cut the silk fabric, sew and embroider.  Happily many examples of Chinese garments survive from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) in costume collections all over the world. 

One can be entranced both by the material and embroidery of Chinese clothing seen here on more informal wear -

Palace Museum collection, Beijing

a woman's riding jacket (magua) from the Guangxu reign (1875-1908) which is made of satin with an embroidered pattern of wisteria.  What a wonderful item of clothing to ride out in. 

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Traditional Craft Work - at Connections to the World