Master engraver Czeslaw Slania designed 1,000 stamps

Of all the stamp designers throughout the 181-year history of the postage stamp, no one has been as prolific as Polish-born artist Czeslaw Slania. A master craftsman as an engraver, Slania's meticulous work has appeared on more than 1,000 stamp designs from 32 countries. His speed and dexterity with the burin allowed him to execute exquisite stamp designs that have become a favorite among philatelists worldwide. Most of Slania's work was for the Swedish Post, for which he eventually became Royal Court engraver. Other postal administrations contracting with Slania include Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Jamaica, Singapore, Tunisia, Vatican City, the United States and the United Nations. Born Oct. 22, 1921 in Czeladz, Poland, Slania is remembered this year for the 55 years he worked as an engraver of stamps, bank notes, legal documents and portraits. He engraved stamps almost until the day he died at age 83, March 17, 2005. Slania's talent as an artist was recognized as he created drawings as a child. He also had a fondness for miniatures, leading to his work on stamps and bank notes. He got his start in 1950 as an apprentice with Poczta Polska, Poland's post office. His first engraving appeared on head of a hammer in a stamp for the 1951 Polish Peace Congress (Scott 486). The first stamp he entirely engraved was issued the following year for the Paris Uprising of 1832 (Scott 499). The stamp includes a portrait purported to be Gen. Jaroslaw Dabrowski, a nobleman and military commander in the Paris commune. Unfortunately, the image provided to Slania to engrave was that of composer and pianist Henryk Dabrowski. Slania worked in Poland until 1956 when he moved to Sweden and then joined Sweden Post. From that point his reputation grew as he demonstrated the diversity of his skill, engraving various subjects with great precision. At least nine U.S. stamps feature Slania's work. The first, in 1983, is a joint issue with Sweden for the bicentennial of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between the United States and Sweden (Scott 2083) that established an economic alliance between the nations. Other U.S. stamps include commemoratives honoring Grace Kelly, the movie star who became princess of Monaco (Scott 2749), statesman Dean Acheson (Scott 2755), and the Nobel Prize centennial (Scott 3504). The postal administrations of Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands will honor the 100th anniversary of Slania's birth in August. Each country plans a souvenir sheet that will be released during the Great American Stamp Show in Chicago Aug. 12-15. The stamps are of a common design and show Slania looking up while holding a loupe and a burin above a metal plate that he is engraving. Norwegian-Swedish master engraver Martin Morck, who has engraved more than 900 stamp motifs for 27 countries himself, engraved the stamps. This column can barely do Slania's accomplishments justice. More information on the life and the work of the engraver whose work others continue to emulate can be found at czeslawslania.org. Another website — slaniastamps-heindorffhus.com — illustrates the numerous stamps and bank notes engraved by Slania. BRSC meeting The Black River Stamp Club will meet Aug. 6. At the July 9 meeting, the first since March 2020 because of the pandemic, more than 40 members were glad to reunite as the caught up with each other and shared stories from long month of lockdown and precautions. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at Harvest Christian Church, 907 Eastern Heights Blvd., Elyria, for socializing and trading with the regular meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. followed by the monthly auction. All are welcome. People who are not vaccinated are asked to wear a mask. Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.