All World Collections, Indian States, Sperati - Day 5

Australia – 1913 “Kangaroo” £2, fourteen production elements for this iconic Australian high value, the element of the central kangaroo include four glass clichés, one dated March 1951 and with two corner angles delimiting the placement of the rest of the design, also a plate with two kangaroos in black numbered “23/24”, one very attractive celluloid cliché dated “8/51”; the frame element includes five glass clichés, one in rose with reversed...

Australia – 1913 “Kangaroo”, a comprehensive group of items used for the creation of postmarks on the finished stamp reproductions, Including one genuine 9d stamp with genuine cancellation that Sperati touched up in order to reproduce his photographic cliché (the cliché dated April 1951), also two attractive glass clichés in dark brown with cds of Melbourne and NSW, three celluloiud strips with cds that were transposed unto stamp...

Austria – 1858 Imperial Newspaper Tax Stamp 1 kr and 4kr, comprising a painted master on photographic paper of the 4kr value – the foundation for the creation of the cliché – and a similar master on celluloid for the 1kr, together with eight glass support clichés of the 1kr in a spectrum of colours, such as black, vermilion, blue, and an exceptional brown on ceramic, also two exposure on photographic paper, one dated May 1941. A unique and...

Belgium – 1869-78 5fr glass plate with image reversal, defective in places, with very interesting production annotations, incl. “pâle” (pale) and dating “12/46”. A unique element of the Sperati production of this high value.

Brazil – 1843, Bull’s Eyes 60r, twelve production items and five cancellation trials on paper; the production items include one glass support cliché with mirror image, three exposure trials on celluloid paper, one painted red-brown around the design, and one with dating Oct 1942 and comprehensive production notations that probably indicate a satisfactory result to make the final reproductions, also a set of impressions on paper, one dated Aug...

British East Africa – 1890-94 4a, four glass support clichés with reversed image impression and in a range of shades, warm brown (dated Feb 1921), vermilion, gray-black and pinkish-red (defective), also three (presumably) genuine unused stamps in values 8a and 1r that Sperati would have used as the basis for developing his reproductions; an exceptionally scarce range of colourful clichés, with only very few glass clichés recorded and no...

British Honduras – 1882-87 Queen Victoria 6d, six glass clichés, remarkably clear and decorative with a few archiving and production notes by Sperati, also three clichés on uncoloured glass with fainter or damaged or overexposed impressions; a unique and remarkable range through which we follow Sperati experimenting towards satisfactory exposure for his finished reproduction of this value, his only completed reproduction from British Honduras...

British Levant – 1909 issues with overprint, one copper plate developed for the “2 piastre 20 paras” overprint, an important new discovery of one of the few copper plates from the archive, which proves that the master forger, besides his standard process of photolithography, also experimented with engraved copper plates to make the reproductions more convincing.

Canada, Newfoundland – 1857 4d, 8d, 1s sixteen items, comprising for the 4d value, two glass support clichés, one with reversed image and one with integrated postmark in a striking red-brown shade, for the 8d value four glass support clichés, with two in negative and painted black around design, also three trial impressions on paper, for the 1s value one negative glass support cliché with dating May 1929 and comprehensive production notes...

Canada, Newfoundland – 1857 6d, trial proof in black on thick paper, with Sperati’s “REPRODUCTION INTERDITE” in purple and pencil signature below design, on reverse is Sperati’s yellow emblem “Philatelie d’Art”; a complete proof in razor-sharp impression and with good range of Sperati’s personal markings, unique.

Canada, Vancouver Island – 1865 5c a fine group of twelve items, comprising nine glass clichés in a fascinating rainbow of colours (black, brown, sepia, rose), and three celluloid clichés in rosy red and black; a very important range, the B.P.A. only records one cliché and one exposure trial, and four single final reproductions were offered in the “Ultimate” collection sale of Sperati.

China, Local Post Shanghai – 1866 12ca, 20 items used to produce the 12ca stamp with overprint, comprising five glass clichés of the stamp, incl. one black negative, two in shades of brown, and two very attractive in vermilion with comprehensive production notes around design noting issues pertaining to the violet filter used to obtain contrast in lithography, also one cliché on celluloid and six trial impressions on thin paper (black and...