Music Boxes, France 2015

 

Francs issued this small sheet of stamps in 2015. If seems that these are each small music boxes. One of them is an ornate pipe organ. The description tells us only, "the organ clock." Once can assume that there is a wind-up mechanism within that provides music of some sort and perhaps some motions. The stamp is gummed, part of a set of 6, and each are denominated .68 Euros. It was issued in 2015. There is a large bar code in the lower left corner presumably for tracking and sales information. The reverse of the sheet is completely blank. I have not tried to identify the location of the various instruments. 

France: Luneville

I have blogged a couple of times about the organ at St Jacques Luneville, France. This post gives the most information about the larger stamps issued in 2012. These two postal items both relate. The first is simply an all-text postmark marking festivities related to the organ in 2003. It uses a common Marianne-type stamp (Scott 2835). The other is a cover that used the smaller Luneville organ stamp as postage.

France: Landévennec Abbey

The abbey at Landevennec was first established in the late 5th century. Its circumstances waxed and waned until the 1950's when the Benedictine order chose to reinvigorate the abbey and began adding buildings. The foundations of older parts of the abbey are still around. However a new sanctuary is the spiritual focus these days. In 1985 France issued a stamp (Scott 1973) honoring 1500 years of history at the abbey. It shows a rendering of the ancient abbey. On this cover, though, it is the cachet that is organ-related. It shows the interior of the "new" sanctuary, which includes an organ across the east wall. The cover includes the following information, "Premier Jour D'Emission No. 1421 Historique FDC." This refers to the fact that this is a first day cover, and presumably the cover is part of a series, or is perhaps #1421 in a print run of a certain number of copies of this cover. I have not been able to find out anything about the instrument, except that Jacques Berthier (of Taize fame) was somehow associated here, and recorded some of his compositions here.

France: Evreux Cathedral

This cover is from the Cathedral in Evreux, France. The postage is printed on the envelop and shows the reliquary of St Taurin, bishop 375-425 AD. The cathedral has a long and complex history. The cachet on the cover shows the interior of the cathedral facing the west gallery, including the organ. This site includes a stoplist. The instrument was completed in 2005. Elements of the cathedral date from the 11th century. There was a re-furbishment which was completed in 1896. Bombing during World War II destroyed stained glass which was replaced by 1953.

France: Mechanical Instrument Museum

Les Gets is a city in western France surrounded, peninsula-like, by Switzerland. There is a museum of mechanical musical instruments there.  The cachet on this cover commemorates that museum. The cachet shows a figure holding one the more important holdings at the museum, a portativ organ. There is also some scenery from the area. This is a piece of postal stationary: the postage is printed on the envelop, rather than the user having to apply postage. The image on the stamp is the "Marianne" rendering first used in 1997 (with "La Poste" in the LL corner) and redrawn in 2003 with RF in that corner. The cover is non-denominated, so it could be sold for a longer period of time despite rate changes. Scott catalogs do not list foreign postal stationary so I do not have a number for this item. Presumably the museum purchased a quantity of the envelops and had their cachet added, and then sold them in their boutique/store at the museum.

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.

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.

France: Couperin

France issued a semi-postal stamp honoring Francois Couperin in 1968. Couperin le Grand ("the Great") was born and died in Paris, 1668-1733, so the stamp was in honor of his 300th anniversary. Couperin was a composer, organist and harpsichordist. His organ works generally appear collected in a single volume, arranged as two Masses. They are staples for beginning organists, but are satisfying for performers of all types. To compare, there are four volumes of harpsichord music extant.

I have an FDC of the 1968 stamp. Interestingly, the French postal authority usually  provides to impressions of the first-day cancel, one touching the stamp to actually cancel it, and a second placed so one can see it clearly. The stamp, cancel and cachet all feature likenesses of the composer. This stamp was part of a set of four, the others depicting General Louis Desaix de Veygoux; a painting by Saint-Pol-Roux, or Paul-Pierre Roux; and Paul Cloudel, poet and diplomat. All the stamps are denominated 30c + 10c. My catalog does not mention for what the surtax may have been designated. The Couperin stamp, Scott B417, is in purple with a portrait of the composer and a collection of instruments including a harpsichord,a  couple of stringed instruments, and a metronome.

Francoise Couperin was for many years organist at St Gervais in Paris, a position held by both his father, Charles, and his uncle Louis. This in addition to musical duties at court.

 

Facade at St Gervais

Champagnole, FR: Eglise

This is a postmark or cancellation from Champagnole, France (southeastern France, near the border with Switzerland). The tourism site for the region gives this information about the church:

St Cyr and St Julitte church Built in 1755, the tabernacle was built in 1764 and demolished in 1793. It was replaced by an altarpiece from the Ursulines located in Poligny in the 17th century, and bought in 1792 after the cancellation of the convent. In 1788, the church was judged to small, and was extended with two aisles. The organ was built in 1721 by Marin Carouge (postman), he took a seat in the Dominicans church of Poligny, and it is only after the French revolution, in 1792, that he became ownership of the Champagnole church. In 1807, he fitted out in the rostrum, especially erected. He remains a jewel of the cultural heritage of Champagnole. 

This site discusses the organ which was installed first in a convent in 1721 and then moved to its present location in 1792. The organ was restored 1988-1989, which is noted on the cancellation. This same site also provides some delightful recordings of the instrument.

The clipping includes the stamp, a fairly common "Liberty" stamp of the type issued in 1982 (Liberty after Delacroix). This 2-franc coil stamp in emerald green is Scott 2080 issued in 1987.

Masevaux, France

I got this cover several years ago, not really knowing what I was getting. The stamp is a common French regular issue, unremarkable with a likewise unremarkable cancellation. I liked the cachet. It shows an organ facade, a church tower and mentions the Masevaux International Organ Festival.

St Martin Church in Masevaux burned in 1966, destroying an historic Callinet organ from the mid-1800's. The church committed to rebuild, including two instrument (choir area and rear gallery) for the new facility. The 2016 season was the 40th of this august festival series.

The gallery organ was built by Alfred Kern and completed in 1975. This is the instrument shown on the cover.

France: music boxes

 

France issued a mini-sheet of six stamps in 2015 featuring elaborate music boxes. Among the very creative and fanciful devices is one that looks like a pipe organ and includes a clock. While the design may represent a specific instrument, I suspect it is a generic representation to suit the creator's artistic desires. My copy of this stamp sheet was a gift from Mark Jameson. I have tagged this as "5 ATA" as it may be considered an artistic form of an organ, but I suspect it is essentially non-organic. Each of the music boxes shown on the sheetlet are marvelous works of art and clever machines to boot!

Santo Domingo, Yanhuitlan, Oaxaca (Mexico)

This is one of two high-value stamps from the set of six, $13.50. It shows the organ in the Santo Domingo, Yanhuitlan. the church was built in 1548 and the organ in 1700. Like many instruments of this locale and era, the instrumenthas a single keyboard of 45 notes and no pedal division. The instrument was work done in 1886 (an inscription inside the instrument), and again in 1996-1998 by Pascal Quoirin from France. View more information about the instrument at the IOHIO site here.

Mark Jameson's article gives this specification:

Left hand
Flautado mayor 8'
Flautado bardon 8'
Octava 4'
Tapadillo 4'
Docena 2 2/3'
Quincena 2'
Diez y novena 1 1/3'
Veintodosena 1
Cimbala 2/3'
Lleno
Trompeta real 8'

Right hand
Trompeta real 8'
Clarin claro 8'
Flautado mayor 8'
Flautado bardon 8'
Octava 4'
Tapadillo 4'
Docena 2 2/3'
Quincena 2'
Diez y novena 1 1/3'
Veintidosena 1'
Cimbala 2/3'
Lleno

("Lleno" seems to refer to a sort of combining stop of several pitches.)

Wallis and Futuna: Schweitzer

Wallis and Futuna issued this stamp (Scott #330) in 1985 honoring Albert Schweitzer. While the doctor's relationship with Africa is well-established and -known, I am curious about his appearance on the stamp of a Polynesian country. The stamp appears to have been issued to mark the 20th anniversary of his death. Perhaps it is Schweitzer's relationship with France itself which prompts his appearance on the stamp of a French territory stamp.

In any case, the doctor's image is shown on the stamp, along with that of an unidentified boy. The boy's features are imprecise such that he may be intended to represent youth of Wallis and Futuna, or perhaps youth of Africa. The boy is wearing a necklace which to those knowledgeable in such areas may provide clues as to his ethnicity. Some plant life is shown in the background, as well as a (church?) stained glass window and some organ pipes arranged in a round facade feature. We cannot know the site of the window nor organ, or if they are simply non-specific artistic representations.

I have a document that lists all the pipe organ stamps that I am aware of. It includes information that was in an old list developed by a member of the American Topical Society many years ago. The notes for this stamp include "Strasbourg Cathedral organ." A quick look at various images of the organ in the Strasbourg Cathedral reveals that the pipes on the stamp _could_ be from the cathedral organ. But the correlation is tenuous at best. There simply is not enough context provided with the stamp image to know for certain. I'm going to maintain my designation as "unidentified."

Wallis and Futuna: Ronsard

Wallis and Futuna is a French-related island nation in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. It has had a complicated history. For several years it was a "French overseas territory." Since 2003 it has been termed a "French overseas collectivity." The land area of these islands is barely 50 square miles; the population is around 12,000 persons.

The present stamp was issued in 1985 (Scott #329), 300 years after the death of the stamp's subject, Pierre de Ronsard. Ronsard was a French poet. He is best known for his "love poetry" and his masterful use of language and meter.

The stamp features an image of Ronsard, in silhouette, super-imposed over a compelling drawing. A woman is standing at a table of some type, and is shown playing a positiv organ. A man's face peers over the row of pipes. He may be manipulating the pump for the organ, or perhaps is merely a listener to the music. A curious face (human or animal?) is placed before the table, on the border between the silhouette of Ronsard and the drawing of the woman and organ. I suspect the drawing is an illustration of a scene from one of Rosard's writings. But as I am not at all fmailiar with his oeuvre, I cannot but suppose. There doesn't seem to be any relationship between Ronsard himself and music, let alone the organ. Perhaps someone more familiar with his writings can clarify if this may be a scene from one of the writers works.

France: St John's Luneville

The famous organ at St Jacques, Luneville was featured on a mini-sheet of two stamp issued by France in 2012. This smaller stamp was part of a lavish pane of stamps issued for the Lorraine region. Ten stamps comprise the pane, along with photos and text escribing treasures of this region of France. Interestingly a "lutherie" also is represented on the pane by what seems to be the body of a violin.  The image of the organ is taken from quite a distance, so even if pipes were exposed in the instruments prospect, one would be hard-pressed to see them.  The beauty of the gallery and columns are not lost in this small stamp. See my post on the 2012 sheet for more details on the instrument. The present pane was issued in 2011, expressly for collectors.

France: Carnet musique

France issued this booklet of stamp featuring musical instruments in 2010. January 29 was the first day of issue, with the pane available to the public on February 1. The stamps bear images of artistic representation from a variety of artists. The organ stamp is from a work of art by Francois Garas, completed in 1896. The original artwork utilizes pencil, ink, pen, watercolor, pastel, paper. It hangs in the Musee d'Orsay. As a work of art, I am assuming the original does not depict an extant instrument, but rather the artist's interpretation of an organ. The stamp does not appear yet in my 2011 Scott catalog. I found reference to it here with information from the French philatelic catalog.

Here is the catalog information:
Yvert et Tellier B390
Lyre 390
Harpe 391
Violoncelle 392
Guitare 393
Cor 394
Saxophone 395
Orgue 396
Clarion 397
Clavicen 398
Piano 399
Tambourin 400
Tambour 401

Here is an image of the original artwork: