AUSTRIA - Christmas
One of Austria’s Christmas stamps for 2021 is a coil featuring the painting “Mädchen am Fenster mit Laterne” (“Girl with a Lantern at a Window”). The Baroque-era atmospheric painting was done by Gerard Dou, a Dutch painter and student of Rembrandt. The painting is presently part of the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The €0,85 stamp designed by Regina Simon was issued in rolls of 50 on November 26 and can be purchased in strips of five online here.
CANADA – Buffy Sainte-Marie
A tribute to Buffy Sainte-Marie, one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters, was issued in a domestic rate, self-adhesive booklet of 10 by Canada Post on November 19. The image chosen for the stamp is from a Simon Fowler photograph that appeared on an album cover. According to the Canada Post website, she was born “on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in 1941. Raised in New England by her adoptive parents, she taught herself to play piano and guitar.” Her work “from soulful ballads to rousing anthems,” led to her becoming internationally known, as well as for her work as “an outspoken defender of Indigenous rights … and [as] an activist, author and educator.” The booklet is available from here.
GERMANY – Climate Change
Bringing attention to the dangers of climate change (klimaschutz) and particularly “the forest is climate protection,” Deutsche Post issued a single €0.80 stamp in sheets of 10 on October 7. The message is in “front of an iridescent grid” to stress “every effort must be made to preserve and protect forests.” As around 30 percent of the world’s land is covered in trees, this can be achieved by reducing global emissions and by reforestation. “Forests are massively and directly affected by climate change.” The stamp is available online from here.
HUNGARY – Planet Budapest 2021
Planet Budapest 2021 Sustainability Expo and Summit was saluted by Magyar Posta with a miniature sheet designed by artist Szilárd Demján and issued on November 8. The aim of the expo was to “draw the attention of the public, and in particular young people, to the adverse environmental, social and economic processes and to show that these negative changes can still be reversed.” The design features the seat of the Hungarian National Assembly, the third largest parliament buildings in the world. The sheet is available from here.
SOUTH KOREA – Loyal Dogs of Korea
Three particular breeds of South Korean dogs are prized for their loyalty but all are on the Korean endangered list. South Korean Post issued a strip of three se-tenant stamps honoring the canines on October 29. The Jindo is indigenous to the island of Jindo and is considered a national treasure due to its homing instinct and loyalty. The second is the Sapsaree (also Sapsali), whose name means “dogs that expel evil and misfortune,” but during the Japanese occupation became almost extinct. The third stamp depicts the Donggyeongi, a bob-tailed endangered breed of only 600 animals. The 430-won stamps were designed by Park Eunkyung and are available from here.
NEW ZEALAND – Royalpex 2021
The New Zealand National Stamp Exhibition, Royalpex 2021, was originally scheduled for this past September 10 to 21 at the Palmerston North Conference and Function Centre, under the patronage of the New Zealand Philatelic Federation. A special two-stamp souvenir sheet was issued on September 10 to commemorate the event. However, due to COVID restrictions it was twice postponed with the latest show dates being February 25-27. The sheet depicts scenes from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), which was filmed in 20 locations across the island nation. The souvenir sheet is available from here.
SLOVENIA – Slovenes in Canada
Honey and maple syrup, two traditional products of Slovenia and Canada, are shown on a stamp issued November 11 to mark the immigration of Slovenes to Canada. Large scale immigration began before the World War I, with many newcomers settling and working the mines of British Columbia. After World War II, immigration spiked again as Slovene refugees sought a new home. Some estimates suggest that around 30,000 Slovene immigrants or their descendants live in Canada today, about half of them in and around Toronto, according to Slovenia Post. This colorful €0,79 stamp can be found here.
SPAIN – The Great Count of Lemos
The latest in Spain’s Characters series features Don Pedro Fernández de Castro Andrade y Portugal, VII Count of Lemos, IV Marquis of Sarria, VI Count of Villalba, IV Count of Andrade and First Class Grandee of Spain. Yes, we know him better as the Great Count of Lemos. He was the patron of numerous Spanish authors and artists during what became known as the golden age of Spanish literature, among those being Miguel de Cervantes who dedicated the second part of “Don Quixote” to the count. The €2.00 stamp was issued on October 21, and can be found here.
TRISTAN DA CUNHA – Eruption and Evacuation
As a massive volcano erupted on Tristan da Cunha in October 1961 the entire island was evacuated when hot cinders and sulphurous gasses spread over the remote south Atlantic island. Miraculously, all 264 islanders and 31 expatriates were safely ferried in fishing boats to nearby Nightingale Island and then to the Dutch liner Tjisadane that had sufficient berths for all. The four-stamp set issued November 3 for the 60th anniversary of the event includes images of evacuees, the ships involved with the rescue and islanders arriving in Southampton and Surrey. To purchase the stamps and for more information about the disaster; click here.