Via Airmail

Two by Alphonse Mucha

I mentioned that I have been participating in some art postcard swaps on Swap-Bot, and two of the recent cards that were delivered (both from The Netherlands) recently are of artwork by Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha, whose work I love.  This particular image is "Laurier", 1901.

The stamp on the back is a "Green" stamp: "think green for a green world".

This image is a detail from one in the series of studies of "The Moon and the Stars" from 1902. 

I've gotten quite a few stamps from The Netherlands and I'm surprised at how varied they are.  Three more that are new to me.  I especially like the stamp on the far right (sorry if it's hard to see details) as it show many more stamps!

Horse and Her Foal

A Postcrosser from Germany who is fond of horses sent me this nature card.

This lovely Ballonblume flower stamp was on the flip side.  I'd never heard of a Balloon Flower before.  When the petals are closed it does inded look like a balloon!

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Postcrossing card #56

An Post Museum, Ireland

This postcard is from the An Post Museum which is located in Dublin's historic GPO.  The exhibit, "Letters, Lives & Liberty" is an interactive exhibit which tells the history of the Post Office in Ireland.  The cool thing about this postcard is that it was signed by several Postcrossers in Ireland who had a 'Postcrossing Meet-up" on May 26.  I'm envious!

Probably not chosen on purpose, but I like how the stamp is color coordinated with the card.  It shows a common frog and is one in a series of Irish Animals and Marine Life.

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Postcrossing card #55

Tianjin, China

Another museum card to add to  my collection.  This time it comes from the city of Tianjin, the sixty largest city of China.  The card shows the Tianjin West Bank Art Museum.  The collection contains rare jade pieces as well as porcelain, as well as folk art pieces including paper cutting (which I am very interested in).  Pity there is no view of the intererior, but the building is lovely and not what I typically think of as Chinese architecture.

The stamps include these two exotic fish, and

a flower stamp that was preprinted on the card.  Prestamped cards from China seem to be the norm in my experience.  It's kind of nice when the card comes pre-stamped.  Maybe people would be more inclined to send them if it was made so easy to send them.

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Postcrossing card #54

The Queen's Jubilee

I'm afraid I didn't get to see many of the Queen's Jubilee Anniversary celebrations on TV, only the highlights, but John at Scriptor's Postcrossing was kind enough to send me this comemorative postcard.  Only Queen Victoria before Elizabeth II enjoyed a Jubilee celebration.  I wonder if Elizabeth will also surpass the number of years as a reigning monarch?  Imagine the things she's seen over the course of her 60 years as a ruler!

This is a themed postcard as the stamps on the back match.  I didn't include the other two stamps on the card as they are the same as the 20p stamp (one 2p and one 5p--different color stamps) to go along with one of the official Diamond Jubilee stamps, which is one of a series of six.

Thanks, John, for the wonderful card!

Iconic England

I love Agatha Christie, though I came to her relatively late compared to many other readers.  So many people have told me they first read her when they were young.  She is often the first adult author many readers had been exposed to.  Now I am slowly working my way through her mysteries and have been reading Miss Marple in order.  She is one of my reliable comfort reads. 

"Dame Agatha Christie, one of the most famous mystery and crime writers of all time, was born in Torquay in 1890.  She spent holidays on Burgh Island in the 1930s and drew inspiration for some of her plots from local people and places.  The island features as Smugglers' Island in Evil Under the Sun and here, Hercule Poirot, stayed at the Jolly Roger Hotel."

The images (top to bottom, left to right): Greenaway House, Dartmouth and Paignton Railway, Oldway Mansion, Elberry Cove, Burgh Island, Churston Ferrers, Torquay, and Dartmoor.  I shared another Agatha Christie postcard here.

The stamps on the back include two 2op Queen stamps and a 56p Edward VII Ludlow Box stamp--these are always attached to buildings and never free standing and have the initials of the reigning monarch at the time the box was made.   This particular box is found at Bodiam in East Sussex.

Another iconic image-the famous red telephone box paired with another postbox.  This one is the Bridgnorth station, Shropshire. 

And the card has a matching stamp (and a matching 'puff' sticker--all very cool).  This time the card had a 90p (increased international postage?) Elizabeth II Type A Wall Box stamp.    

Many thanks to Scriptorsenex for these great cards and matching stamps--not only wonderful images but a bit of history as well.

Grey Cat and Flowerpots

I love art postcards, but I receive very few of them via Postcrossing unfortunately.  I also belong to Swap-Bot, so I do a few postcard exchanges on the side occasionally.  There is a new group within Swap-Bot devoted to artsy postcards, so I had to join.  I've sent out a few art cards and will be getting a few in return, and this is the first to show up in my mailbox. 

This is a watercolor by British artist Lesley Fotherby called "Grey Cat and Flowerpots".  Cats (I have two of them myself) are one of the subjects she paints the most.

The stamp is a trusty Aloha Shirt. 

I'm looking forward to finding more art in my mailbox in the coming weeks.

Museums of Odessa, Ukraine

This postcard from Odessa, Ukraine shows the interiors of three different museums.  Museums are one of my very favorite places to visit, so I am always pleased to get a peek at an international museum.  Clockwise from top left: Literature Museum (top two photos), Private Collections Museum and the Navy Museum.  I'd be particularly interested in seeing the Literary Museum.  It is located in a 19th century palace using 24 halls.  A few of the writers I recognize who are represented there: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and Maxim Gorky.

There were a variety of stamps on this card.  I especially like the stamp of the metro train.

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Postcrossing card #53

The Romanian Sphinx

This unusual card came from Romania.  It is a natural formation located in the Bucegi Mountains.  There is actually a Wikipedia entry on it giving a little more information:

"The Sphinx is a natural rock formation in the Bucegi Mountains in Romania. It is located at an altitude of 2216 m, a 10 minute walk from the Babele. The first photo of the Great Bucegi Sfinx was probably taken in about the year 1900. This photo was taken from a front position, not from a lateral one, as it appears in the usual pictures nowadays. This way it was only named in the year 1936. The image of the sphinx appeared when the rock, having an 8 m height and a 12 m width, was watched from a certain angle. The megalith has its clearest outline on 21st November, at the time the sun goes down." 

Romania is one of those places that has intrigued me but I'm afraid I don't know much about it or have read any Romanian authors.  The postcrosser who sent it lives in Galati, a port city on the Danube in the region of Moldavia.

I love the stamp.  It shows Michael the Brave, who reigned over Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia in the 16th century.  I'm not entirely sure but I think the column might be from the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest.

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Postcrossing card #52

How to See Europe from an Armchair

I've had a little hiatus from sharing postcards.  Although I've not been around for a few days, the postcards have still been coming in, and I hope to scan and share them soon.  This is one that came from a friend recently.  I'm not sure where she found it, but it has BBC Homes and Antiques on the back (after looking at their website I think I might have to subscribe, hmm.).  I love vintage images and am a decided Anglophile, so I was happy to find this in my mailbox.  The image is from a Motor Pullman travel brochure, 1929.  For me armchair travel means a book in hand and not leaving your home.  I have a feeling they must mean something entirely different.  Pullmans were luxury vehicles, so it seems as though the folks traveling in one of these was seeing Europe from the comforts of the Pullman!

I'd share the stamp, but I scanned the same exact Aloha stamp here.