1942) "Handicraft Jewellery in the Mediterranean", Portugal: "EUROMED" theme for 2021: CTT-Correios de Portugal, S.A. (Portuguese Post) has issued two postage stamps depicting traditional Portuguese jewellery - "Gaio Arrecada" & "Monte Molião Arrecada": Date of Stamps set issue: 09.07.2021:
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 CTT-Correios de Portugal, S.A. (Portuguese 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 ceasing in perfection.
Jewellery is considered to have always been a part of our human history as the earliest known jewellery is reckoned to have been worn 100,000 years ago. It is worn both to embellish, as well as, to symbolise wealth, power and social status. Some wear jewellery as a form of art for self-expression or as part of their tradition and cultural beliefs.
For centuries the Mediterranean Sea was a refuge for many cultures and civilisations. This brought generations of artists who adopted and developed different styles and crafts that created what we recognise today as distinctive Mediterranean jewellery.
CTT-Correios de Portugal, S.A. (Portuguese Post) has issued a set of two EUROMED - 2021 stamps:
At the dawn of our era, the Greek geographer Strabo devoted a section of his Geographica to praising the auriferous wealth of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly the southwestern regions (Geog.3.2.8), and archaeology has shown this praise to be warranted.
From the start of the Metal Age, Gold was the favoured medium for experimentation and the preferred means of producing luxury objects: large jewellery pieces of solid gold (some weighing well over two pounds), which marked the end of the Bronze Age.
This wealth, and the trade of other metals – such as bronze, an alloy; its constituent parts, copper and tin; and iron, the technology of which had an impact at civilisational level – established a network of contacts covering the entire Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
Ore, as well as, finished objects (or sometimes scrap-metal) travelled, as did luxury products of eastern origin – from the Levant, Asia Minor, Egypt – which the Phoenicians produced according to artistic styles that mixed several of these influences.
In this way, the Phoenicians brought to the peninsula new techniques in goldsmithing, such as filigree and granulation, and demonstrated the hitherto unsuspected potentials of other previously known techniques, such as the stamping of fine sheets as a decorative process.
New types of jewellery also became popular, among them the "Arrecada" (an earring with a double hanging system). Earrings were not unknown in Bronze Age jewellery, but the surge in their use during the Iron Age revealed a social trend with broader roots, with which the technology kept pace: the increased value placed on jewellery for women.
Jewellery was imported from the East, but the impact was much more profound, and Iberian goldsmiths quickly learned and used these new techniques.
There are even some cases of pieces that, from a formal and constructional point of view, are typical of the Bronze Age, but which were decorated with details of eastern inspiration.
The production of large, ostentatious jewellery, however, was abandoned – perhaps because other ways were found to express the affirmation of power – and these Iberian goldsmiths, over generations, created new models, some highly original, always based on the Mediterranean influences of old.
The Stamp issue:
This issue shows an example of an imported piece and another piece produced on the Peninsula.
The "Gaio Arrecada" is a ‘trumpet earring,’ characteristic for its crescent- shaped body that holds a decorative crown composed of various trumpets.
It is a hollow earring, formed of multiple stamped pieces, which heighten its visual impact with a minimum amount of the precious metal. It can be dated to the late 7th or early 6th century B.C.
Of particular interest is the point where each of the trumpets is joined to the crescent-shaped body by a minuscule human head, which represents the Egyptian goddess Hathor.
The Arrecadas were found in a grave in the Sines Region of Portugal, along with other pieces of goldwork and imported objects, constituting a funerary hoard of considerable worth.
Monte Molião, near Lagos, was a significant indigenous settlement on the Algarve coast throughout the Iron Age.
The "Monte Molião Arrecada" is a "spirals pendant earring,’ characteristic for its plaque of six contiguous spirals (arranged in an inverted pyramid: 3-2-1), each decorated with a central granule, and with other filigree appliqués in other parts of the earring, which also had some settings for semi-precious stones (carnelian and turquoise were used) or glass paste, of which remain only the prongs to hold the stone in place).
Datable to the early 5th century B.C., it is typical of production in the southwest of the peninsula; a related workshop operating in Cabeça de Vaiamonte (Estremoz) produced filigree earrings during the late 2nd century B.C.
The First Day Cover (FDC) is titled "JOIS do MEDITERRANEO" (meaning "Jewellery of the Mediterranean").
The two stamps issued in the set are affixed at top right. The special Cancellation Handstamp/Postmark shows an earring image in the centre and is of CTT, Lisbon. The date of Cancellation is - "08.07.2021".
Technical details:
Issue Date: 09.07.2021
Designer: Atelier Design/ Hélder Soares
Printer: Cartor
Process: Offset
Size(s): 40.0 mm x 30.6 mm
Interesting links to posts on Portugal and Spanish Coins and postage stamps on this blog:
9) "Nacional Museo del Prado", Spain: Celebrating the Bicentenary milestone (1819-2019): Commemorative Silver Coins of 30 Euros issued by Fabrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - Casa Real de la Moneda on 20.11.2019: Coins minted by the Madrid Mint
12) The New Silk Road: A Joint issue of a two stamp set of 1.50 Euros each by Spain (Correos Post) and China: Stamps issue date: 01.07.2019
13) Charming Towns, Spain : For the past five years, Correos (Spanish Post) has issued Stamps and Postcards on four beautiful Spanish villages as old-fashioned accordion-style postcards: Date of PostCards/Stamp set issue: 30.03.2020
14) "International LGBTQ Pride Day", Spain: The LGBTQ Pride Day Flag (Rainbow Flag) depicted on the first ever stamp issued: Date of Stamp issued: 15.06.2020
15) "Card Games", Spain: Correos Espana (Spanish Post) has issued a Stamp Sheet of 3.80 Euros representing the four suits (Swords, Pentacles, Cups & Wands) in a Tarot Deck, as the Origins of Card Games: Date of Stamp Sheet issue: 02.07.2020
6) "The Joker", Portugal: Portugal Post has issued a set of four stamps featuring "The Joker"character of DC Comics, who is an archenemy of the "Batman": Date of Stamp issue: 31.03.2020
7) Portuguese Numismatics (1st Group): A set of four Stamps in the values of N20g, A20g, E20g and 120g issued by CTT Correios (Portuguese Post) in partnership with INCM ("Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (the "Portuguese Mint & Official Printing Office") depicting coins from various periods of history: Date od Stamp set issue: 22.04.2020
12) "Linha Do Douro" ("The Douro Line (Train)", Portugal:12th Coin in the Ibero-American Coin Series titled "Historic Trains" brought out by the "Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda" (INCM): Date of issue: 06/2020
6) Leonardo da Vinci, France: The latest issue from the Monnaie de Paris, France highlights him on the latest Europa Silver Star Coin Programme issued by the Paris Mint: Coin issue date: 03/2019
7) i) "Europa Coin Programme" or the "European Star Programme" or the "Eurostar Programme" ii) Central Bank of Malta issues 50 Euro (Gold) and 10 Euro (Silver) Proof Coins featuring "Architecture and artwork of the Gothic Era" in 05/2020 (which is a part of the wider programme focussing on the ages of Europe: Date of Coins issue: 08.05.2020
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