ND Home > ND Libraries > Spec. Coll. > Collections > Wolf Irish Stamps > Part I > Set 4L
|
ND Home > ND Libraries > Spec. Coll. > Collections > Wolf Irish Stamps > Part I > Set 4L |
|
 |
 |
||
L12a Blue and black Perf.11 [MID] [LAR] |
L13a Broad crown Perf. 11 [MID] [LAR] |
||
Design: L12a - ringed cross and shamrock leaves; inscriptions "éire" and "sinn féin" (twice) on cross. L13a - Hibernia (Erin) with harp, with arms of the four traditional provinces of Ireland (at corners) and wolfhound; inscriptions "éire" (top panel) and "sinn féin" (left and right panels). The cross label is commonly known as the "Celtic Cross;" the Hibernia label as "Hibernia and Wolfhound." There is some confusion over the identification of the arms of the provinces on the Hibernia label. Connaught (conjoined eagle and arm, upper right), Munster (triple crowns, lower right), and Ulster (hand, lower left) are all clear, but what logically should be the harp of Leinster at upper left has been replaced by a single crown of indeterminate significance. The crown has been interpreted as an obscure symbol for Leinster, and as the arms of the old province of Meath; neither explanation seems satisfactory. Credit for the design of both labels is most commonly given to Lily Williams, though there is no contemporary documentation to verify this. L12a: 19 x 23 mm. L13a: 18.75 x 22.25 mm.
Printing: Lithography; James Walker & Co. Ltd., Dublin. Each of the two designs was printed in 1908, and again in 1916. Of the specimens shown here, the "Hibernia and Wolfhound" dates to the earlier printing, and the "Celtic Cross" to the later one. The Hibernia printings may be readily distinguished from one another, for in 1916 the design was redrawn. The cross design was not, apparently, redrawn; the two main printings are generally distinguished by color. Much remains to be resolved regarding the printing of the labels. The 1908 designs were initially engraved in wood (by W. W. Kirkwood); from this relief base, transfers were printed to build up the printing base (on lithographic stone) of 100 (10 x 10) subjects. The lithography itself seems to have been handled by James Walker & Co. Ltd., Dublin. In the case of each of the 1908 designs, six different transfer types have been recognized. Less is known of the 1916 printing. The cross design was printed from a new lithographic stone, using the same six transfer types as in 1908, in a different setting. Sheet size was probably 72 subjects (8 x 9). Sheet size for the 1916 Hibernia (shown on piece two pages following) was probably 50 subjects (10 x 5).
Separation: Perf. 11. Sheets of both labels were also rouletted.
Watermark: None.
Date of Issue: January 1908 (L13a); 1916 (L12a).
Numbers Issued: Unknown.
Notes: Among the best known of the Irish cinderella "forerunners" are the stamp-like labels first printed by Sinn Féin in 1908, for use on the
correspondence of sympathizers. Sinn Féin (pronounced Shin Fane - "Ourselves") was a nationalist movement and party founded by Arthur Griffith and
Bulmer Hobson in the early years of the century.
Its initial political and economic agenda derived largely from Griffith. Ireland was to become an equal partner in a dual monarchy under the
English crown (in a political structure not unlike that of Austria-Hungary). Local resources and domestic markets were to be developed, notably
through the implementation of high protective tariffs; the end
result would be economic independence and a slowed rate of emigration. To achieve these goals, Griffith advocated passive resistance. MPs should
withdraw from parliament and form a national assembly in Ireland, while citizens should cease cooperating with government institutions (i. e., stop
paying taxes). Though Sinn Féin achieved no notable parliamentary successes during these years, it had a significant influence on political thinking,
largely through the writings of Griffith.
The idea of the labels was communicated to the public in an editorial in Griffith's weekly newspaper (called Sinn Féin), for 4 January 1908.
"With the New Year," Griffith wrote, "is born the Sinn Féin stamps. The Sinn Féin stamp is intended to be affixed to all correspondence of Sinn Féiners
as a visible sign that this is Ireland. We recommend it to be placed on the envelope in the opposite corner to that of the revenue stamp [i. e., the British
postage stamps then in use in Ireland]. The revenue will carry the correspondence, the Sinn Féin stamp added will spread Sinn Féin propaganda
and will help to bring about the one thing Sinn Féin needs to make it win the land from end to end - a daily paper." The editorial goes on
to explain how profits from the labels' sale were to be used to finance Sinn Féin's metamorphosis from a weekly to a daily. Retail price
was four labels for a penny; James Whelan (Sinn Féin's Secretary) of 17 Upper Ormonde Quay, Dublin, was identified as chief agent for sales
(beginning in March and continuing through 1908, a list of over eighty agents selling the new "Irish stamps" appeared regularly in Sinn Féin).
Shortly after they appeared, Sir Thomas Gratton Esmond (whom Griffith cited as originator of the whole idea) sought to promote the labels' use by editorializing,
"Now that we have our own postage stamps, will you allow me to inform my correspondents, through the medium of your column, that if they desire replies
to their letters, they will please to put an Irish stamp on their envelope as well as an English one, when writing to me."
The number of surviving covers from 1908-09 bearing Sinn Féin labels suggests that Esmond's scheme found a clientele.
Sometimes, the labels were attached apart from the stamps, as per Griffith's recommendation; on other occasions, stamps and labels were juxtaposed.
By July, the Post Office felt it necessary to issue a directive entitled "Use of Labels Resembling Postage Stamps," which can only have been aimed
at Sinn Féin.
"The practice has recently been adopted by some persons of affixing to the covers of letters adhesive labels, somewhat resembling postage stamps,
which are used for advertising or other purposes. Although these labels are obviously not issued with any intention of defrauding the revenue,
their use on postal packets, especially when they are placed on the address side, causes embarassment to the officers of the Post Office, and
gives rise to delays in the treatment of other correspondence. In these circumstances, the Postmaster General has deemed it necessary to issue
instructions that, after the 31st of July [1908], any letter or other packet observed in the post bearing on the front a private label in any way
resembling a postage stamp shall be returned to the sender." In response, Sinn Féin suggested on 1 August that the labels be affixed
only to the backs of envelopes. Griffith ultimately got his daily Sinn Féin in 1909, though it lasted less than a year. And
enthusiasm for the labels proved relatively short-lived as well - at least until the Easter Rising of 1916 led to the reappearance of the same two
designs.
Much remains unknown concerning the second printing of the Sinn Féin labels in 1916. During World War I Sinn Féin was best known
for its opposition to recruitment; this anti-British stance caused many to believe that the party was responsible for the Easter rising, which
it was not. Still, this association with the rising helps explain why Sinn Féin was adopted as the name of the new militant nationalist
movement that took shape in 1917 - a coalition of radical republicans and more moderate nationalists from Griffith's Sinn Féin (Griffith
stood down as president in favor of Eamon de Valera in October). Sinn Féin's precise motivations in printing new sheets of its labels in 1916
is not known - though certainly, the Easter rising and its aftermath witnessed a tremendous upsurge of popular support for nationalist causes. Also in
1916, quantities of the labels were reported stolen from Sinn Féin's offices. Soon thereafter they began to appear for sale around Great Britain,
where they were advertised as stamps of the "Republican" or "Rebel" forces during the Easter Rising.
The ringed cross on label L12a (frequently described as a "Celtic" cross) is a form particularly associated with Ireland. Crosses of this type are readily
encountered in the sculpture, metalwork, and manuscript illumination of the Irish Early Middle Ages - most notably, perhaps in the stone high crosses
erected across the island in the ninth and tenth centuries. Four shamrock leaves and two panels of interlace fill out the composition, while the legend "Sinn
Féin" appears on the cross's ring, both above and below the transverse bar. Label L13 is likewise a tiny catalog of nationalist symbols
and motifs: Hibernia, the harp, the arms of the provinces, the wolfhound. It is possible that the colors of L13 allude to the green and orange of the
tricolor; these colors first gained currency as symbolic of a united Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century. Neither label's design bears any
indication of a value, which is certainly consistent with Sinn Féin's stated intention that proper prepayment of postage be observed.
Provenance: Dr. Charles Wolf (all).
Bibliography: EPA 1961, "Political Labels of Ireland," 5-7; EPA 1966, "Irish Stamps: A Retrospect," 621-2; Feldman 1968, 14-15; Mackay 1968, 56-58; H. G. L. Fletcher 1974, 889-92; W. Fletcher 1994, 34-39.
Usages:
[Next Set] [Return to Table of Contents]
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
