France: Daumier painting

The date of this cover is 23 March 1967. The stamps are fairly common for the era, and the postmark is unremarkable. The cachet, however features a positif organ in a painting by Honore Daumier. The reverse of the cover has this to say about Daumier and the painting.

Honore Daumier est ne a marseille ie 26 fevrier 1803. Son pere etait vitrier mais, so croyant poete, il abandonne en 1814 sa boutique pour monter a Paris. Deux ans plus tard, il fait venir sa femme et son fils. A 13 ans honore travaille chez un huissier puis devient commis dans une librairie du Palais Royal. Mais il est instable et prefere le dessin. Il parcourt le sues de paris, frequente les artistes de l'epoque et s'enflamme pour les idees republicans. En 1830 Louis Philippe prend le pouvoir et Daumier commence ses dessins satiriques. Il fait un Gargantua representant Louis Philippe gave et distribuant autour de lui des profits et des decorations. Cela lui rapporte 300 francs d'amende et six moin de prison. En 1835 les lois deseptembre, severes pour la presse, l'obligent a suspendre ses dessins politiques et a produire quantite de lithos "sujets de moeurs," pour pouvoir vivre. En 1845 il s'installe dans l'ile Saint-Louise, se met a peindre et a sculpter. Puis, en 1865, a Montmartre, il continue a dessiner pour la presse mais, mal pae, vit peniblement. A 65 ans, il loue une maiconnette a Valmondoins, Menace de padre la vue, il se troupe dans une situation difficile. C'est grace a la generosite de ses amis qu'il peut demeurer dans son lieu de repli. (Corot avait achete la maison et lui en avait fait cadeau pour sa fete.) En 1877 le gouvernement lui accorde une pension de 100 frances par mois, portee a 200 frances l'annee suivante. Daumier neurt a valmondoi . Son corps est transfere au Pere Lachaise en avril. Le timbre reproduit une peinture datant de 1860 set se trouvant au Musee du Louvre. On connait de lui d'innombrables lithographies et peintures, dans de nombreux musees du monde.

Honore Daumier was born in Marseille on February 26, 1803. His father was a glazier but, being a poet, he left his shop in 1814 to go to Paris. Two years later, he brings his wife and son. A 13-year-old honore works at a bailiff and then becomes a clerk in a bookstore in the Royal Palace. But he is unstable and prefers drawing. He travels the sweats of Paris, frequents the artists of the time and ignites for the republican ideas. In 1830 Louis Philippe took power and Daumier began his satirical drawings. He makes a Gargantua representing Louis Philippe gave and distributing around him profits and decorations. That brings him a fine of 300 francs and six months of imprisonment. In 1835 the laws of September, severe for the press, forced him to suspend his political drawings and to produce a quantity of lithos "subjects of morals," to be able to live. In 1845 he moved to Ile Saint-Louise, began to paint and carve. Then, in 1865, in Montmartre, he continues to draw for the press but, badly, lives painfully. At the age of 65, he rents a scrap at Valmondoins, threatens his view, he finds himself in a difficult situation. It is thanks to the generosity of his friends that he can remain in his place of withdrawal. (Corot bought the house and gave it to him for his birthday.) In 1877 the government gave him a pension of 100 francs a month, raised to 200 francs the following year. Daumier neurt a valmondoi. His body is transferred to Pere Lachaise in April. The stamp reproduces a painting dating from 1860 set at the Louvre Museum. He is known for countless lithographs and paintings in many museums around the world.

Most sources indicate Daumier painted "The organ player of Barbary" around 1864-1865. The painting is now in the possession of the Musee Petit-Palais in Paris, France. 

The "arms of Auch" stamp (Scott 1142) was issued in 1966. The Marianne type stamp (Scott 653) was issued in 1951. So it would seem the date of the cover is not related to the issuance of either stamp. Above the cachet the the FDC indication along with "No. 586 Historique FDC. And overprinted atop that is the single word, "Imprime." A circular red mark at the bottom of the cover reiterates that same information with what may be the printer's insignia; it's not quite legible to me. The date of the postmark seems to correlate to neither the painter's birth nor death dates. So the "why" of this cover remains a bit of a mystery to me. My cover was a gift from Mark Jameson who for several years has been associated with the Berkshire Organ Club, which explains that notation on the reverse. It would seem that at some point it passed through the hands of the Empire Philatelic shop in Paris.

France: St Jean de Moirans

This envelop specifies that it is "philatelic correspondence," probably to let postal workers know to treat it carefully. Probably it is merely the postmark which the sender wanted to conserve through the postal journey. The stamp is Scott 2664, issued 13 June 1998, for a National Music Festival. It was the Europa theme for that year. As such it is at least tangentially related to the postmark. The instrument in St Jean de Moirans was installed in 1978 by Xavier Silbermann. The same builder added stops to the pedal division in 1981 which completed the instrument. It is small, a mere 713 pipes.  This site gives the specification and a few more photographs. Finally this site also discusses this little instrument. This one notes a need for restoration work on the organ, and a fund that has been set up for the project. Without more information it would seem the postmark is simply to promote a series of concerts on the organ scheduled for 18 June 1998. Moirans, France is in the former Rhone-Alpes department of France, near the Swiss and Italian borders. At a little less than 8000 residents, the population is similar to the town where I currently live!

I recently came across this envelop as I was doing some more cataloging of my collection. It shows a pretty view of the church in the cachet. The postmark shows the organ and some pipes, though it is faint.

Germany: Schnitger Organ, Hamburg

I have written about this stamp here. This item is a first day cover for the stamp, issued 16 November 1989. As is the case with several other countries, there are two impressions of the FDC postmark: one cancels the stamp to a greater or lesser extent; the second is in a blank space on the envelop so one can clearly see the cancel. It is also interesting to note that German FDCs are numbered; my copy is #10753.

Italy: Valvasone, 2

This cover was produced September 15, 1974, and seems to celebrate the "return to service" of the organ in the Duomo in Valvasone, Italy. I have written about this organ in a previous post, for a different cover. That cover marked the 30th anniversary of the 1970's restoration. This cover is contemporaneous with the restoration. The cover uses a stamp (Scott 1149) issued to commemorate athletic games in Rome (28 June 1974). It is not a first day cover, simply a postcard with a special postmark. The Italian in the postmark reads:


manifestazione inaugurale restauro organ servizi distacati
inaugural event restoration of organ services

This site gives some information on the duomo and the organ. The Italian version includes some pictures. The instrument has been recorded in 2003, and thus includes all of the restoration work of which I am aware.  

The back of this postcard includes a photograph of a woman holding flowers in front of a depiction on the Madonna and child. No information about the photo is included on the card. The only other word on the card is "rotante" which means, enigmatically, means "rotating."

 

Italy: Palestrina

In 1975 Italy issued a single stamp to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the birth of the musician Pierluigi da Palestrina. Scott 1195 describes him as a "composer of sacred music." Indeed he was. His influence of musical art cannot be overestimated. The stamp shows the composer with a book of music, and his dates (died 1594). the postmark is text plus a posthorn. The cachet on my cover shows a portrait of the composer along with a representation of an organ: two keyboards (with many, many notes!) and a row of pipes. Palestrina's career carried him around Italy with stints at the Vatican in Rome. He is known for his sacred choral and instrumental works more than his secular pieces, but all of it demonstrates his mastery of polyphony and counterpoint.

France: Lulli

Jean-Baptiste Lulli (or Lully) (1632-1687) was a musician and dancer working in the court of King Louis XIV. He wrote music for many instruments in many different forms. He was adept at violin and guitar but as a court musician had deep familiarity with most instruments in use at the time. I am not familiar with organ works by Lully, though several of his pieces for other instruments have been arranged for organ.

The present cover shows a stamp issued honoring Lulli on 10 November 1956. Scott 812 was part of a set of 6 stamps featuring famous men who lived in France. Lully was Italian-born though he became a French citizen late in life. The stamp is a simple portrait. The postmark is all text. The cachet however shows a violin and musical scores in the foreground, and an organ facade in the background. I do not know which organ this may be, but the specificity of the image suggest that it is indeed a specific instrument, rather than an abstract representation for the cover. The front of my cover has been scuffed a bit; some of the text is hard to decipher. I would be happy to hear in the comments which organ this is!

France: Saint Jacques, Luneville

The stamp on this First Day Cover is one of two that were part of a mini-sheet issued in 2012. I discussed the sheet here. The cover here includes the 1.45 Euro stamp. The postmark shows one of the violin-playing putti that adorn the organ. The cachet is a close-up of the statuary of the organ.

France: Couperin 2

This First Day Cover includes the same stamp discussed here. The major difference between the covers is only the cachet. The present cover's cachet shows a portrait of Couperin with an organ facade in the background. While one might hope that the facade is that of the Saint Gervais organ, with which Couperin is associated, that does not appear to be the case. This page discusses both the gallery instrument and the choir organ, neither of which resemble the instrument in the cover. Couperin was also a court organist, and the instrument could be that at court, rather than at the church.

France: Arles sur Tech

The remarkable aspect of this cover is the postmark. Arles sur Tech, France is home to the Abbey of Saint Mary. Contained therein is an organ dating from the mid-1700's by Godefroy Schmidt. It has been cared for over the years and according to this site substantial work was done in 1989-1990. Bernard Cattiaux' site describes the work as

1990 : ARLES SUR TECH (66) Restauration : Schmidt 1750 : III/P 24 jeux

Further work was done in 1998, after the date of the present cover. This cover includes a rather common stamp of the era (Scott 2196), the Marianne type of 1990-1992. The whole thing is unremarkable save for the postmark. It shows a representation of the Abbey organ and the date. One wonders about the text, "Abbatiale XIe..." I am not sure enough of French idiom to know what "eleven" refers to.  A stoplist is included in the page at the first link above.