Estonia - Folk Costumes 2005

2005 Estonia Folk Costumes - Jarva County (Ambla and Turi)

In terms of its folk costumes the Jarva County, along with countries of Harju and Viru, belongs to a more or less homogeneous Nort Estonian group. Jarva floral embroideries are often of one colour white, blue or black (dark brown), but there are also multicoloured ones. In earlier times a headdress called Linuk, with the tail covered with a large-flowered design, was in use various parts of Estonia, while the skirts were of a single colour, mostly black. The hemline was sometimes decorated with gorgeous wide bead embroidery, sometimes with ribbons and tinsel. In some places they were worn as late as the middle 19th century side by side with newer vertically striped skirts. Jarva coats have traditionally been black. The men's short jackets and breeches were mostly blue in the middle 19th century, replaced with blue or striped linen ones in the summer.
The man wearing his Sunday best in the Ambla stamp boasts the traditional black Jarva long coat, with the woman wearing the ancient Linuk headdress and a skirt of the older type, with bead embroidery. The girl's striped skirt was in general use in all Estonia.
In the Turi stamp, one of the women in her best clothes has a Linuk headdress with flashy multicoloured embroidery, her companion wearing a smaller cloth cap with floral decorations. FLoral sleeves were widespread all over Northern Estonia.

2005 Estonian National Costumes. (Jarva County - Ambla).
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 28 October 2005
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 355,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

2005 Estonian National Costumes. (Jarva County - Turi).
Denomination: 8.00
Date: 28 October 2005
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 180,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 2004

2004 Estonian National Costumes - Viru County (Johvi and Viru-Jaagupi)

North Estonia, where Viru is the easternmost county, is more or less uniform in terms of traditional dress with no big differences between the individual parishes. The most conspicuous common feature for women was a characteristic short shirt or blouse called Kaised, sleeves. Complemented with a vertically striped skirt, it constituted the typical North Estonian women's dress in the 19th century. Longer than elsewhere, Viru wives traditionally wore caps, while girls adorned their heads with chaplets. Besides the cap, a married women had to wear an apron, and in the 19th century it was often made of fabric bought from a shop. The girdle was wrapped several times round the waist, with brooches, beads, and coin necklaces worn for decoration, as far as one could afford them. In addition to the traditional soft cowhide pastlad, shoes were used for footwear, and in a few cases they even had tapering heels. In men's dress, the most widespread garment in the 19th century North Estonia was a blue suit with knee breeches, which should actually be regarded as a folk adaptation of fashion clothes. White or blue and white striped linen clothes were used for summer wear. The main headgear for men was a tall black felt hat.

Johvi woman and girl in early 19th century dress.
Young man and girl from Viru-Jaagupi in dress of the first half of the 19th century.

2004 Estonian National Costumes. (Viru County - Viru-Jaagupi).
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 05 October 2004
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 650,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


2004 Estonian National Costumes. (Viru County - Johvi).
Denomination: 7.50
Date: 05 October 2004
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 150,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 2003

2003 Folk Costumes of Tartu County - Aksi & Otepaa

The next two stamps from Estonian folk costumes series are devoted to middle 19th century traditional dress from the Southern Tartu County, one featuring an Aksi woman and girl and the other an Otepaa woman, man and girl. Tartu County was rather receptive to various innovations, so the dominating dress in the middle 19th century was quite modern there. Older features included various shoulder wraps and shawls both for daily and Sunday wear. Girls wore a wreath or a headband.

2003 Folk Costumes of Tartu County - Aksi.
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 09 October 2003
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 500,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


2003 Folk Costumes of Tartu County - Otepaa.
Denomination: 6.50
Date: 09 October 2003
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 250,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 2002

2002 Folk Costumes of Kolga-Jaani & Suure-Jaani (Central Estonia)

On the two new postage stamps of the Estonian Folk Costumes series, the Central Estonian people wearing the folk costumes of Suure-Jaani and Kolga-Jaani parishes are depicted. In the middle of the 19th century, new modern folk costumes became popular in the Viljandi parish. In the patterns of shirts, waists, coifs, stockings, and mittens old elements can be seen, but suits for men with the tunics, breeches, often with waistcoats, and the tight waist-lined jerseys for women have been modeled after the city fashion.
On the postage stamp of Kolga-Jaani folk costumes there is a maiden and a married woman, but on the postage of Suure-Jaani folk costumes a boy and a girl are depicted in the folk costumes of middle 19th century.

2002 Folk Costumes of Kolga-Jaani (Central Estonia).
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 01 October 2002
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 512,500
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


2002 Folk Costumes of Suure-Jaani (Central Estonia).
Denomination: 5.50
Date: 01 October 2002
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 313,050
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 2001

2001 Folk Costumes - Viljandy County - Paistu & Tarvastu.

Some extremely old traits and archaic ways of ornamentation survive in Mulk folk costumes. The folk costumes of Paistu and Tarvastu are rather similar. For both men and women, the festive clothing was a long woolen black coat abundantly decorated with bright cord and patches of bright cloth. Fur coats were also very beautiful.
The girl on the Paistu stamp wears a splendid fur coat decorated with coloured straps and strips of polecat fur.
The Tarvastu stamp features a man wearing a festive long coat and tall felt hat, playing a six-string zither.

2001 Mulk Folk Costumes - Viljandi County - Paistu.
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 07 November 2001
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 502,200
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


2001 Mulk Folk Costumes - Viljandi County - Tarvastu.
Denomination: 7.50
Date: 07 November 2001
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 5 x 5
Quantity issued: 303,550
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 2000

2000 Folk Costumes of Southeastern Estonia

Hargla
The Estonian folk costumes series continues with the folk costumes of Southeastern Estonia. Sunday clothes of Hargla were in light tones. Women's were long coats and cardigans bordered with fine red and green cord, while men's coats were bordered with black. The stamp features a family in Hargla SUnday dress.

Polva
The Estonian folk cotumes series continues with the folk costumes of Southeastern Estonia. In Polva a black woolen plaid with coloured borders was worn with Sunday dress. Women wore a head ribbon in summer and a hat with a red top in winter. The stamp pictures two women in Polva Sunday dress.

2000 Folk Costumes of Southeastern Estonia (Hargla).
Denomination: 4.40
Date: 12 September 2000
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,254,600
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


2000 Folk Costumes of Southeastern Estonia (Polva).
Denomination: 8.00
Date: 12 September 2000
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 726,750
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1999

1999 Estonian Folk Costumes - Setu Area (South-East Estonia)

The Setu live next door to Russians. As a result, the dress of the Setu, particularly in more recent times, has some Russian features in addition general Finno-Ugric traits. The outer clothes of both men and women are white. Men wore their skirts over the pants. Besides dark left hats, also straw hats were worn. Weddings were a particularly long and colourful ceremony, with different, gay outfits worn at its different points. One of the stamps (3.60) features a bride and bridegroom, and the other stamp (5.00) two young men, one blowing a bagpipe and the other a double fife.

1999 Folk Costumes - Setu Area (South-East Estonia)
Denomination: 3.60
Date: 12 October 1999
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 800,750
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


1999 Folk Costumes - Setu Area (South-East Estonia)
Denomination: 5.00
Date: 12 October 1999
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 555,750
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1998

1998 Kihnu Folk Costumes

On Kihnu Island, folk dress in worn daily until today. Older Kihnu folk costumes were in one colour, almost white on festive occasions and grey in daily use, although women's ruffled skirts could also be black or blue. The striped skirts one can see in Kihnu today are rather a new development. Men's knee-length coats are considered to be particularly old. Men also wore seal flipper shoes with upturned toes. Women used red straps to lace up their moccasions and also their skirts were hemmed with red. Their embroidered decorations were mainly in blue and red. Stockings with a wide band of colorful embroidery and figured woolen gloves are still in use today. The Kihnu men's wear (troil) has experienced a revival recently and its quite popular also outside Kihnu. Small children were made patchwork caps of printed cotton. Of the two stamps the dress of the old couple dates from the middle 19th century and that worn by the family from early 20th century.

1998 Folk Costumes - Kihnu
Denomination: 3.60
Date: 21 August 1998
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,206,800
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

1998 Folk Costumes - Kihnu
Denomination: 3.60
Date: 21 August 1998
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,223,350
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1997

1997 Folk Costumes - Ruhnu Island & Vormsi Island
Thousands of Sweden lived on Estonian Islands and coastal areas before World War II. Their resettlement in Sweden in 1943-1944 to escape Soviet occupation cut short their traditional centuries-old way of life. Folk costumes not yet influenced by modern trends were worn by the Estonian Swedes on Ruhnu and Vormsi Islands up to that time.

Ruhnu Island
The stamps show Ruhnu costumes. Nowhere else in Estonia have printed fabrics been so widely used. WOmen had dark goffered skirts worn without an apron on working days. The bonnet, a taller version for married women and lower one for girls, was covered with printed silk or cotton cloth. Outdoors, it could in turn be covered with a kerchief. Men wore light grey suits bordered in black.

Vormsi Island
The stamp depicts Vormsi folk costumes from the middle of the 19th century. Women wore goffered black skirts similar to those worn on other islands, but sewn to a very short bodice covered with short sleeves. Women also wore short black jackets decorated with strips of blue broadcloth and copper buttons, as were men's jackets. Hair was arranged in arches and braided with yellow and scarlet ribbons. The child's doll is dressed as a bride. Besides their archaic cut, Vormsi costumes also stand out for their colours: black, white, pure yellow and scarlet. Children's the neighbouring Hiiumaa Island. Their breeches were of dark woolen or white linen fabric.

1997 Folk Costumes - Ruhnu Island
Denomination: 3.30
Date: 10 June 1997
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,204,700
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa


1997 Folk Costumes - Vormsi Island
Denomination: 3.30
Date: 10 June 1997
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,202,350
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1996

1996 Hiiumaa Folk Costumes
Estonian folk costumes as they are today were worn in the 19th, in some places in the 20th century. Some features of the costumes, however, go back to a very distant past. Today folk costumes are worn by many people to song and folklore festivals, by some woman on other festive occasions. On the islands folk costumes persisted long and possessed a lot of differences as compared with those worn on the mainland. The folk costumes of the islanders of Hiiuma, settled by people from Saaremaa, the mainland and Sweden early millennium, retain features from all those areas.

Emmaste
The folk costumes of Emmaste have been pictured as worn by a bride and her mother. Thebride is wearing a special chaplet and a red-striped skirt, while the mother's dress of a somewhat older type is mostly back.

Reigi
The folk costumes of Reigi in the stamp are from 19th century. The sitting young married woman wears a high headdress with a festive pleat. The girl beside her is dressed in mourning, with a black pleat and lace sleeves. The latter are of a quite recent origin.

1996 Folk Costumes - Emmaste
Denomination: 2.50
Date: 26 March 1996
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 991,700
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

1996 Folk Costumes - Reigi
Denomination: 2.50
Date: 26 March 1996
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 998,700
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1995

1995 Folk Costumes - Muhu

In Estonian folk costumes differ from parish. Besides, there has been considerable change in the course of time. Nowadays, folk costumes are only worn for festive occasions, such as folk dancing, and the song and dance festivals taking place at regular festivals from local to national level.
The two stamps picture folk costumes from the West Estonian Island of Muhu. The couple wears an older style of dress which persisted up the middle og the 19th century.
The two stamps picture folk costumes from the West Estonian Island of Muhu. The dress of the three girls on the other stamp is more modern, having been in use around the turn of the century. Their headdress was part of everyday apparel.

1995 Folk Costumes - Muhu
Denomination: 1.70
Date: 30 March 1995
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,585,000
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

1995 Folk Costumes - Muhu
Denomination: 1.70
Date: 30 March 1995
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,556,200
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Estonia - Folk Costumes 1994

1994 Folk Costumes - Jamaja
Denomination: 1.00
Date: 23 August 1994
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,925,250
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

1994 Folk Costumes - Mustjala
Denomination: 1.00
Date: 23 August 1994
Print: Offset
Designer: Mari Kaarma
Perforation: 13 3/4 x 14
Sheets: 10 x 5
Quantity issued: 1,925,500
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Israel 1966 - Postal Uniforms (Stamp Day 1966)

Technical Details:
Date of Issue: 14 December 1966
Perforation 14 by 14
Method of Printing: Photogravure

0.12 IL - Postmen - Past and Present: Austrian Postmen and Mail Coach
0.15 IL - Postmen - Past and Present: Turkish Postmen and Camels
0.40 IL - Postmen - Past and Present: British Mandate Postmen and a Locomotive
1.00 IL - Postmen - Past and Present: Israeli Postmen and a Plane

Article - Stamp Day 1966

In December of 1967 the first nation-wide Stamp day was held in Israel. On this occasion a series of four stamps was issued. They depict postmen of Israel in different periods.

Postal establishments in the modern sense did not exist in Eretz Israel before the second half of the last century. Though at that time the country was part of the Ottoman Empire, the first postal offices in Eretz Israel were established by European Great Powers. Their rather doubtful legal basis was claimed to be the so-called Capitulations - treaties between the Sublime Porte and individual European Powers.

The first post office in Eretz Israel was probably the French post office in Jaffa (1852) with a collection point for letters at the French Consulate in Jerusalem. The first real post office in the Capital was most likely the Austrian one (about 1854). In addition to Jerusalem and Jaffa, there were also Capitulation post offices in Haifa. Attempts to establish branch offices in smaller places were short-lived or, at best, unrecognized. All foreign post offices were closed upon Turkey's entry into the First World War (30/9 - 1/10, 1914).

The network of the Turkish State posts did not reach our country before about 1865. Initially it developed slowly, but - in spite of the war - more rapidly after the closing of the foreign post offices. Finally there were in Eretz Israel, Turkish post offices in 19 towns and villages with branch offices in the main towns, among them one in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the postmark of which also showed Hebrew characters. The Turkish post-offices were closed with the conquest of the country by General Allenby's army (1917/18).

At the end of World War I, Palestine was in the hands of the British army. With the return of civilian life the existing army post offices were opened to the public, and after the establishment of a civilian administration the post offices too came under civil administration. Parallel with the development of the country the postal system expanded. In 1933 there were 40 post offices or agencies. At the end of the British Mandate, the number already reached 100 (not counting town branches).

The real development of the postal system occurred after the proclamation of the State of Israel (May 1948). New post offices were opened in all parts of the country.

Soviet Union - Dance and Ballet 1971

South Africa - Dance and Ballet 2003

Liechtenstein - Costumes 1980

Thailand - Phi Takhon Masks 2007

Issue Name: Phi Takhon Mask Postage Stamps
Issue Date: 23 June 2007
Denomination: 3bath, 3bath, 3bath, 3bath, and 10bath
Perforation: 3bath (30x48mm Vertical) and 10bath (60x48mm Horizontal)
Quantity of stamps: 1,000,000 pieces per design
Printing process: Lithography Multi-Colour
Designer: Mr.Udon Niyomthum (Thailand Post Company Limited)
Printing by: Thai British Security Printing Public Company Limited, Thailand

Details:
The Phi Takhon Procession is a yearly tradition held in June by the natives of Dan Sai District, Loei Province. This is a part of two other merit making ceremonies - the Boon Bung Fai ceremony and the Boon Phra Wase ceremony.

The natives in Dan Sai District dress themselves as the Phi Takhon - wearing mask made from coconut husks, and hats made from bamboo sticky-rice streamers. The masks are painted with quaint designs and faces. The important symbols are the bells tied around the cow's necks. Their important weapons are swords whose ends are made into the male phallus and used to slab women who join the procession.

Japan - Japanese Theatre Series I "KABUKI" 1970

JAPANESE THEATRE SERIES POSTAGE STAMPS (I) "KABUKI"
Date of issue: 10 July 1970

KABUKI has its origin in "Nenbutsu-odori" (a sort of Buddhistical dancing) led by a woman named Okuni of Izumo at Shijo-gawara, Kyoto about the beginning of 17th century.
As it became popular and was cherished as a peculiar entertainment among the people, "Nenbutsu-odori" was played with variations and has become theatre as what it is.

Design : "Musume Dojoji" posture dancing
Denomination : 15 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Chiaki Yoshida
Arranged by : Hitoshi Otsuka
Quantity issued : 23,000,000

Design : "Sukeroku" one of the Kabuki repertory
Denomination : 15 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Intalgio and lithographic
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kakichi Hayashi
Arranged by : Saburo Watanabe
Quantity issued: 23,000,000 stamps

Design : "Kanjincho", one of the Kabuki repertory
Denomination : 50 yen
Size of impression: 48mm x 33mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 10 (2 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Chiaki Yoshida
Arranged by : Hideo Hasebe
Quantity issued : 13,000,000 stamps

Japan - Japanese Theatre Series II "GAGAKU" 1971

JAPANESE THEATRE SERIES POSTAGE STAMPS (II) "GAGAKU"
Date of issue: 01 April 1971

GAGAKU is the Japanese classical court entertainment handed down at the Imperial Court and has been designated as the national intangible cultural asset.
At court, it is played on ceremonial occasions or to receive the guests from abroad; besides, every year, in spring and autumn, it is released to the public.
The Ise-Shrine and the Atsuta-Shrine have also GAGAKU repertory of their own tradition, prepared for the festival events.

Design : "en-jo-raku"
Denomination : 15 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : 5 Colour Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Tadashi Kimura
Arranged by : Saburo Watanabe
Quantity issued : 28,500,000

Design : "Ko-cho"
Denomination : 15 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : 4 Colour Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Mitsuo Saito
Arranged by : Minoru Hisano
Quantity issued : 28,500,000

Design : "Tai-hei-raku"
Denomination : 50 yen
Size of impression: 48mm x 33mm
Printing process : 5 Colour Photogravure
Sheet composition: 10 (2 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kakichi Hayashi
Arranged by : Minoru Hisano
Quantity issued : 28,500,000

Japan - Japanese Theatre Series III "BUNRAKU" 1972

JAPANESE THEATRE SERIES POSTAGE STAMPS (III) "BUNRAKU"
Date of issue: 01 March 1972

"Bunraku" is a puppet show traditionally performed by the Bunraku-za Theatre in Osaka. Along with Kabuki and Noh, it is one of the classical public entertainment peculiar to Japan played to joruri (a kind of ballad drama) accompanied by the shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument).
Occupying a high place as the public entertainment, it was the designated as the national important intangible cultural asset in May 1955.

Design : "Kumagai-jinya"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 27mm x 31mm
Printing process : 4 Colour Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Koichi Mitsumura
Arranged by : Saburo Watanabe
Quantity issued : 32,000,000

Design : "Nozaki-mura"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : 5 Colour Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kakichi Hayashi
Arranged by : Minoru Hisano
Quantity issued: 32,000,000 stamps

Design : "Awa-no-naruto"
Denomination : 50 yen
Size of impression: 48mm x 33mm
Printing process : Intaglio-tonal engraving, dry-offset
Sheet composition: 10 (2 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kakichi Hayashi
Arranged by : Hitoshi Otsuka
Quantity issued : 18,000,000 stamps

Japan - Japanese Theatre Series IV "NOH" 1972

JAPANESE THEATRE SERIES POSTAGE STAMPS (IV) "NOH"
Date of issue: 20 September 1972

Noh is the theatrical performance peculiar to Japan originated in Sarugaku, an ancient drama, and was accomplished in the 14th century by Kan-ami and Ze-ami,a father and son.
A kind of the musical drama, Noh play is simple and well-refined with the musical accompaniment composed of flute, several kinds of drums and Noh song. The atmosphere of elegance and quietude permeates the stage. Noh embodies the soul of the classical of Japan.

Design : "Tamura"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Intaglio-tonal engraving
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kikuzo Yasuhiko
Arranged by : Saburo Watanabe
Quantity issued : 40,000,000

Design : "Aoi-no-ue"
Denomination : 20 yen
Size of impression: 25mm x 35.5mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 20 (4 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Kunihei Kameda
Arranged by : Takashi Shimizu
Quantity issued: 40,000,000 stamps

Design : "Hagoromo"
Denomination : 50 yen
Size of impression: 48mm x 33mm
Printing process : Photogravure
Sheet composition: 10 (2 x 5) stamps
Photograped by : Tateo Yoshikoshi
Arranged by : Hitoshi Otsuka
Quantity issued : 20,000,000 stamps

Lithuania - Coat of Arms 1992 - 2009

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1996

1996

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF KLAIPEDA'S LAND"
Issued date: 25 May 1996
Description:

153. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 0.40 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

154. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

155. Inhabitants of Klaipeda. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

Created by: Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Budapest.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1995

1995

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF HIGHLAND"
Issued date: 20 May1995
Description:

123. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 0.20 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

124. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 0.70 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

125. Highlanders. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.500 m.

Created by: Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1994

1994

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF LOWLAND"
Issued date: 25 June 1994
Description:

Traditional holiday clothes, which were worn by lowlanders men and women of various ages until the middle of the XIX century. Modern lowlanders clothes are based upon these forms.

52. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 5 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

53. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 80 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

54. Lowlanders. XIX c
Face Value 1.00 Lt.
Edition 0.50 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow's Goznak printing-house.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1993

1993

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF DZUKAI"
Issued date: 30 October 1992
Description:

81. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 60 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

82. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 80 ct.
Edition 0.50 m.

83. Dzukai. XIX c
Face Value 1.
Edition 0.50 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Moscow's Goznak printing-house.

Lithuania - Folk Costumes 1992

1992

Name : Set "FOLK COSTUMES OF SUVALKIECIAI"
Issued date: 18 October 1992
Description:

Suvalkija is one of Lithuania's region in the southwest part of the country. It is situated southward and westward of Nemunas and includes the present district of Marijampole. After the third partition of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth (1795) this territory was allocated to Prussia. Later it was incorporated into the autonomy Kingdom of Poland, where the civil code Napoleon was used.

52. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 200.
Edition 1.00 m.

53. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 500.
Edition 2.00 m.

54. Suvalkieciai. XIX c
Face Value 700.
Edition 3.00 m.

Artist Ruta Lelyte
Printed in Leipzig's Securities printing-house.

Malta - Historic Commemoration1998

Malta - Communities 1993

How many Coat of Arms on this issue?
Could you count?

01 Valletta 02 Mdina 03 Birgu 04 Isla 05 Bormla 06 Qormi 07 Żebbuġ 08 Żabbar 09 Siġġiewi 10 Żejtun 12 Attard 13 Balzan 14 Birkirkara 15 Birżebbuġa 16 Dingli 17 Fgura 18 Floriana 20 Gudja 21 Gżira 24 Għargħur 26 Għaxaq 27 Ħamrun 28 Iklin 29 Kalkara 31 Kirkop 32 Lija 33 Luqa

34 Marsa 35 Marsaskala 36 Marsaxlokk 37 Mellieħa 38 Mġarr 39 Mosta 40 Mqabba 41 Msida 44 Naxxar 45 Paola 46 Pembroke 47 Pietà 49 Qrendi 50 Rabat 51 Safi 52 San Ġiljan 53 San Ġwann 55 San Pawl il-Baħar 57 Santa Luċija 58 Santa Venera 59 Sliema 60 Swieqi 61 Taʼ Xbiex 62 Tarxien 65 Xgħajra 67 Żurrieq 68 Mtarfa

Malta - Maltase Cities (1797-1997)

South Africa - Life in Informal Settlements 2003

Fiji - Traditional Fijian Chief's Costumes 1998

20th January 1998

During the nineteenth century, the advent of Christianity and westernisation brought many changes to the traditional way of life. The acceptance of the new religion and order meant an end to warfare, and new technologies and their prducts rendered obsolete, or nearly so, many traditional skills such as pottery and barkcloth manufacture, victims of the ready availibility of iron pots from Birmingham and printed cloth from Manchester.

For Fijian men, the most common article of clothing was the malo or masi, a strip of plain white barkcloth wound around the waist and between the legs, with the length of the train being a measure of chiefly status. Fijian barkcloth is made by women by soaking and then pounding the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree (Broussenetia papyrifera).

For women, the typical everyday dress consisted of a skirt (liku) of vegetable fibre, most commonly the bast of the vau (beach hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus).

Both sexes often supplemented their dress with various ornaments, such as qato (bracelets), vesa (armbands and legbands) and itaube (necklaces).

Traditional modes of dress are no longer seen in everyday use, but survive in modified form in men's dress for meke (dances) and important ceremonies such as kau matanigone (formally presenting a child to his or her mother's people) and veibuli (installation of a chief).

This set of stamps commemorates the splendour of the elaborate traditional Fijian dress as worn by chiefs around the middle of the nineteenth century.

81 cents - A chief in war dress

This chief wears a turban (ivauvau) of very fine white barkcloth and a necklace of carved ivory (wasekaseka), with a sash (iwabale) of white barkcloth over his right shoulder. The waistband of his loincloth is wound high up, around the lower ribs, as a signal of challenge. His kilt is made of the shiny black fibrous roots of the waloa. Around his upper arms and calves he wears ornaments (vesa) of bundles of black threads with small white beads. He is armed with a distinctively-shaped culacula club, which is also an insignia of rank. Note that the last joint of the little finger of his right hand is missing, having been cut off as a gesture of mourning on the death of a senior relative or chief.

87 cents - A chief in formal dress

This chief wears the Tongan-influenced dress that was in vogue in parts of coastal Eastern Fiji, where Tongan influence was strongest in the mid-nineteenth century. It was commonly worn by Cakobau, the leading chief of Eastern Fiji, after his conversion to Christianity. The main component is a single large sheet of gatu ni Toga (Tongan barkcloth) extending from the waist to the ankles, with plain white barkcloth folded or twisted and wound around the waist to help hold it in position. A hair-styling pin (iqeu) of balabala (tree fern) wood protrudes at the left temple. The chief's rank is confirmed by the necklace of a single bulikula (the rare golden cowry, Cypraea aurantium).

$1.12 - A chief in presentation dress

The "costume" worn by this chief of Nadrau, in the central highlands of Viti Levu, is in a fact a large quantity of plain white barkcloth which he wears only temporarily as a means of formally presenting it at a solevu (ceremonial exchange of valuable property). After the formal presentation in front of the assemled recipients, the cloth is untied and unwound and handed over to them. The chief's earlobe is pierced, as used to be the case with all Fijian men, and plugged with an ivory cylinder (sau). He also wears on his arms a pair of white qato (shell armbands). He is missing two joints from the little finger of his left hand, amputated as a sign of mourning.

$2 - A highland chief in war dress

This chief is from Nasaucoko, in the central highlands of Viti Levu. His chiefly standing is confirmed by the long train of white barkcloth with fringed edges, originating from a large bow at the small of his back, and also the relatively long "apron" of barkcloth sat the front. The blackening of part of his face and forehead, as well as the wearing of a belt of barkcloth high up, around the lower ribs, indicate that he is about to enter battle. The club he carries is a vunikau (rootstock club), the head of which is part of the root system of the plant from which the club was fashioned. He also wears a batinivuaka (boar's tusk pendant) around the neck, a pair of qato (shell armbands) just above the elbow, and vesa (legbands) of fern leaves just below the knees. Both his little fingers have been amputated in the traditional Fijian expression of mourning.

Technical Details:

Title: Traditional Fijian Chief's Costumes
Values: 81c, 87c, $1.12, $2
Designer: Mr. Muni Deo Raj
Printer: The House of Questa Ltd
Process: Lithography
Stamp Size: 28.45 x 42.58 mm
Stamp Format: Potrait
Gauge: Approx 14 per 2 cm
Paper: CA Watermarked

Vietnam - Fashion 1999

Faroe Islands - A Glimpse of Everyday Life in the Viking Age 2005

A Glimpse of Everyday Life in the Viking Age

Date of issue: 07 February 2005
Primary Theme: Agriculture & Food (Crops & Farming), History (History of Peoples)
Width: 28.8mm
Height: 39.5mm
Denomination: 7.50DKK
Printing: Offset/ Steel Plate Printing
Number in set: 3
Layout/ Format: Miniature sheet of 3 of 3 designs
Perforations: 13.25 per 2 cm
Stamp Issuing Authority: Postverk Foroya
Printer: Post Danmark Security Printing Office
Artist: Martin Mörck

A glimpse of everyday life in the Viking Age

Where people spend any amount of time, they leave traces, including the remains of the buildings they once erected in their settlements. Most domestic waste was thrown out of the door, where it remained unless anything that might be edible was eaten by domestic animals such as cats, dogs and pigs. It is this detritus that can give posterity an insight into what it was like to live in the past. If this knowledge is to be gained, however, such material relics must undergo archaeological investigation.

On the farms around the Faroe Islands the people of the Viking Age lived off what the land, both the infields and outlying pasture, could produce together with what could be caught at sea, landed from the coast and hunted in the mountains.

The kitchen utensils used in the households of the period were partly of domestic and partly of foreign origin. The imported goods were either produced abroad or made from foreign raw materials, i.e. materials that were not found locally on the islands. These included utensils and implements made from soapstone, e.g. vessels and pots, which were more or less bowl-shaped and were used for cooking. They varied greatly in size from less than 20 cm to around 50 cm in diameter. As the same types of vessel found on the Faroe Islands are also found in Norway, it is natural to assume that such goods were imported from Norway. Another possibility is Shetland, where soapstone is also found as a raw material.

Households used earthenware as well as soapstone vessels. Based on the information available, it is impossible to say whether the early settlers, or Landnamsmen as they are called, were already using earthenware when they arrived on the islands. There is a great deal to indicate, however, that earthenware became part of domestic life during the Viking Age, i.e. in the late 10th – 11th century. This is interesting in terms of cultural history, because back in Norway earthenware had been completely abandoned in favour of soapstone vessels, a practice that the Northmen brought with them as they travelled west. These earthenware vessels are all unglazed, shaped by hand, generally by coiling and without a wheel, and fired at a low temperature. There seems to be considerable variation in shape, with bowl-shaped, hemispherical and bucket-shaped vessels having been found. There is also considerable variation in size, with the opening varying between about 18 and 30 cm, for example, and the height between around 10 and 20 cm. Food encrustation on the inside indicates that the earthenware vessels were used for the preparation of food. However, no remains have been found that might have been linked to earthenware production itself, e.g. kilns, but it is easy to imagine earthenware vessels being fired in the hearth.

The exciting investigations into animal bones that have taken place in recent years have provided an insight into the animal husbandry of the past and the resources exploited in the Viking Age. It has been established that pigs were widely kept in addition to sheep and cattle, while compared with other locations in the North Atlantic, seabirds accounted for a very large proportion of the diet on the Faroe Islands.

Rooms were illuminated by means of oil lamps, which might have been no more than hollowed-out stones. But there are also examples of lamps being carved from tuff, a soft, volcanic rock that was easy to carve, which is why such lamps often had various forms of simple decoration.

In addition to the above types of kitchen utensil made from stone, the people also used a lot of different vessels made from wood, including turned wooden vessels and small, carved rectangular vessels or bowls. Staves and heads from large and small crozed wooden vessels have also been found. The many finds of twisted juniper stems are characteristic of the remains of older settlements. Juniper grew locally when people and animals took possession of the islands. The stems have been found in many different lengths and thicknesses, and were used as handles for wooden vessels or as ropes, for example. Wooden pins of varying sizes have also been found. Some of then are frequently interpreted as being so-called “sausage skewers” and others as being spindles used for working with wool.

Apart from food preparation, other important indoor chores included wool processing. Finds of spindle whorls and warp weights bear witness to this activity. The spindle whorls, which can be of basalt or tuff, are often also made from fragments of broken soapstone pots. Weights were required for work on vertical looms. Some special forms of warp weight made of drilled slate for hanging seem to have been imported, but ordinary basalt stones with a groove round the outside were also widely used.

In daily work both indoors and out cutting implements such as knives and scythes, for example, were indispensable, and they had to be kept sharp. The number of whetstones found bears witness to this. They were made from both clay slate and mica schist – even whole blanks of the raw material for whetstones have been found. This is another example of goods that had to be imported from Norway.

Hay was produced for animal feed. But grain was also grown on the Faroe Islands, with the grain of the Viking Age being six-rowed barley. This had to be ground, which was done using millstones of relatively soft mica schist characterised by hard red garnets inclusions. This raw material is found at Hardanger in West Norway. Studies have shown that this area had large quarries that produced schist for making millstones for export as long ago as the Viking Age.

The fields were not the only place where work was done. Sinkers testify to the importance of fishing. These might be made from soapstone, which frequently turned out to have been reworked from vessel fragments. But it was most usual, perhaps, to use large and small pebbles with a groove round the outside to secure the line to.

Apart from the knives previously mentioned, metal artefacts include iron locks, rivets and fish hooks of various sizes. The metal finds frequently occur in very small fragments such as bronze plates with rivets attached, which may have been rim or opening hardware for wooden vessels, for example. The quite frequent finds of slag may also be the result of forging to do with the utensils already mentioned.

In visualising how people on the Faroe Islands dressed during the Viking Age, we must make do with drawing comparisons with what is known from other locations in the North Atlantic, but there are several finds to indicate that people quite liked to dress up. There is, for example, evidence of objects that can be described as personal accessories – ornaments such as bone combs, for example, both single and double. People wore necklaces and bracelets with both amber beads and silver- or gold-coated glass beads. They also wore silver rings, fine bronze buckles and ring pins, which they attached to their clothes.

Leisure activities and children’s games clearly also played an important role in everyday life in the Viking Age. In addition to gaming pieces, half a game board has been found with “Nine Men’s Morris” on one side and the Old Norse game of “Hneftafl” on the other. Finely carved horses and toy boats were made for the children, with examples being found at the Viking Age farm in Kvívík and the summer settlement at Argisbrekka near the village of Eiði.

Just as in other locations in the North Atlantic the art of writing was also practised on the Faroe Islands in the Viking
Age. Several artefacts made of both wood and stone with engraved runes were found during the excavation of dwellings in Eiði and Leirvík, for example.

The imported materials provide clear evidence that the Viking Age population on the Faroe Islands was not isolated to any great extent. Such materials clearly indicate quite close contact with the outside world, as likely as not in the form of trading relations both with the inhabitants’ old homeland, with communication doubtlessly originating in Bergen, and the other Norse settlements in the areas to the south of the Faroe Islands.