1937)"Handicraft Jewellery in the Mediterranean", France: EUROMED theme for 2021: La Poste, France (French Post) has issued a stamp of 1.50 Euro featuring i) "Maltese Cross and its Runner" ("Museon Arlaten") ii) “Coulas” Bracelet ("Museon Arlatan") iii) "Coral Ear Pendant" ("MuCEM"): Date of Stamp issue: 12.07.2021:
"EUROMED" STAMPS:
The Postal Union for the Mediterranean (PUMed), created in Rome on 15.03.2011, by 14 Postal Administrations from the Mediterranean Region under the aegis of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), now has 23 members.
The objective behind this concept was to develop a similar project of the lines of "EUROPA" Stamps, wherein a theme will be chosen and all member countries will submit their design. As such, the Euromed Postal stamp project is a joint commitment, consisting of the annual issue of a stamp on the same theme.
Each member will then be free to issue the design prepared by it. This for the exception of the first stamp issued in 2014, where all members were obliged to have the same design.
The themes chosen for the member countries, since 2014, so far, are as follows:
2014 - “The Mediterranean”
2015 - “Boats used in the Mediterranean”
2016 - “Fish in the Mediterranean”
2017 - “Trees in the Mediterranean”
2018 - “Houses in the Mediterranean”
2019 - “Costumes used in the Mediterranean”
2020 - "Traditional Gastronomy in the Mediterranean"
2021 - "Handicraft Jewelry in the Mediterranean"
A set of Stamps brought out by La Poste, France (French Post) on the "EUROMED Project theme" for 2021, "Traditional Jewellery in the Mediterranean":
A brief:
From Antiquity, and the discovery of gold, the Mediterranean basin saw the birth of vocations of jewelers. From the 17th century, they exported their creations all over the world, adapting to the tastes of their customers and winning without ceases in perfection.
A treasure of the seabed, Mediterranean red coral is widely used in jewelry making. In the hollow of the neck or the wrist, in earrings or in a necklace, "red gold", reputed to bring good luck, still knows the same craze today.
Whatever its value, a piece of jewellery tells a story. It expresses a social status, a belonging to a religion, evokes a memory. This "memorial sign", as Jean-Jacques Rousseau called it, is often part of a regional tradition.
In the 18th century, in the Arles region, future brides were offered the "Coulas", a bangle-type bracelet, in gold or silver, holding a chiseled medal.
The coquetry of Arlésiennes stimulates the local silversmiths who compete in their know-how.
The privileged relationship between Arles and the Order of Malta inspired them with sumptuous adornments. They revisit in particular the enamelled Maltese cross set with a diamond, to which they add a pendant in the shape of a teardrop.
A Latin cross for faith, an anchor for hope, a heart for charity, the Camargue cross created in 1926, whose ends recall the tridents of the gardians, has become the symbol of the Camargue soul.
Strengthened by their regional identity, jewelry has stood the test of time. The term "poissardes", which nowadays designates ear pendants, refers to the fishmongers of Marseille, who are great lovers of jewelry.
The Stamps:
The Stamps issued by La Poste France showcase emblematic jewels from French Mediterranean departments:
- The Maltese Cross and its Runner ("Museon Arlaten"):
Since the 12th century, the Order of Malta has maintained privileged links with Arles.
In the 17th century the Order set up its Grand Priory here.
The insignia of the Knights of Malta came to inspire the decor of many Arles jewelry.
With the addition of a bail, a pendant and 3 diamonds, the Maltese Cross has a dimension that varies from 20 to 80 mm.
Often enamelled, it adorns the neckline and highlights the marked taste of Arlésiennes for this elegant and evocative shape of the sovereign order, still very popular in Provence.
The large-modulus Maltese crosses are the most spectacular and the most worn, especially in the wealthiest families of the Third Estate.
They are enamelled, white on the Obverse and black on the Reverse, like military insignia. The branches are connected to each other by four stylized fleur-de-lis around a bezel-set bezel supporting a rose-cut diamond. They are finally decorated with a teardrop at the bottom, and a ring at the top, allowing them to hang on a ribbon tightened by a slip, high on the neck.
- The “Coulas” Bracelet (Museon Arlatan):
Bangles/bracelets embellished with a charm are distinguished by the social class of their owner.
In the 18th century, the most humble peasant women mainly wore "coulas" bracelets made up of a silver circle enlivened by an enamel medal or a small flat or Maltese cross.
Better-off peasant women also possessed a few gold cross pendant with flowers. Wealthy craftswomen, wives of wealthy landowners and middle-class women chose to wear a gold “coulas” bracelet on their right wrists identified as “rings worn by the Romans” and later defined as “ancient torque” .
In gold or silver, these were offered to the young brides. It is a very simple bangle, embellished with a charm or a Maltese cross, sometimes enamelled, simple or on a medal, which was worn until the Restoration.
Its is very popular in the the lower Rhône valley - its vernacular name "coulas" means "necklace" while it is worn exclusively on the wrist.
It is a jewel typical of rites of passage, since it is the prerogative of the bride who receives it as a dowry on her engagement or on her wedding day.
In the 1830s a change in the fashion of dress and adornment led to its decline.
Fallen into disuse, it returned under the 2nd Empire, carried by the fashion of ostentatious jewelry then, under the 3rd Republic, carried by the identity movement of Félibrige (association which works for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the language, culture and all that constitutes the identity of the langue d'oc countries).
The gold coulas depicted on the stamp was the personal jewel of Mme Frédéric Mistral, who obtained it in 1912 from a Mme Ménard-Dorian de Lunel and then bequeathed it to the Museon Arlaten in 1943. The quadrilobed medal slides on the ring. The decoration engraved on one side represents a dove above a basket of flowers, and on the other side, it represents quivers and arrows in a vegetal decoration.
- Coral Ear Pendant (MuCEM):
Coral is dear to the Mediterranean world. Its origin, considered almost divine, has contributed to the expansion of coral jewelry throughout the Mediterranean basin, where they are given several symbols of protection.
The red color, that of blood and of life, opposes all its force to the danger of death. The Corsicans nicknamed it the "Blood of the Sea" and lent it the power to ward off bad luck.
The coral for these loops comes from Marseille. They are believed to have been created between 1838 and 1847 and are from the so-called "Napoleon III" period.
They are part of an adornment that testifies to the use, in an elitist piece of jewelry, of a material loaded with meanings by Mediterranean cultures and highly prized by the working classes. This buckle is made of a dormeuse part with a smooth coral pearl and a pendant part with two smooth coral pearls held by a gold rod and finished with 4 turquoises surrounding a rose cut diamond.
The Stamp is titled - "Bijoux de Mediterranee" and is marked "EUROMED POSTAL".
The Postal Document/Information Brochure has a cancelled postage stamp affixed to it.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 12.07.2021
Designer: Florence Gendre
Illustrator: Florence Gendre
Process: Heliogravure
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Gr8 information. Thanks for sharing."
Thank you, Khanna sahab.
DeleteAshok Borate has commented:
ReplyDelete"Great information👍"
Thank you Ashokji.
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