Romfilatelia dedicates a new philatelic project to the rich museum patrimony of Romania, introducing into circulation, on Tuesday, 5th of October 2021, the postage stamps issue Peles Castle. Collections.
The six stamps and the souvenir sheet of the issue show representative pieces, of great aesthetic value, in the collections of the Peles National Museum. This museum administers an exceptional heritage: Peles Castle, an iconic monument of Romanian architectural patrimony, erected at the initiative of King Carol I, a passionate and accomplished art collector, who enriched his beloved residence with a magnificent collection of paintings, furniture and decorative objects. Of the latter, collections of glass and silverwork are distinguished by richness, beauty and refinement.
On the stamp with a face value of Lei 1.40, a vase made by the famous French glass artist Émile Gallé in 1890 is illustrated. The vase, in Art Nouveau style, is made of blown blue glass, coloured with cobalt oxide. The Japanese decoration – a bouquet of chrysanthemums – is partly pressed into the hot glass, on the inside of the vessel, partly painted with enamel, on the outside. The piece impresses with its elegance, the quality of the material and the variety of techniques used, ingeniously combined, with a remarkable result.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 1.50 two pieces of a tea set, made in the Goldschmidt workshop in Cologne, Germany, at the end of the 19th century, are shown. The objects are made of silver, cast, hammered, chiseled, engraved, partially gilded, with a predominantly vegetal decoration.
On the stamp with a face value of Lei 3.40 an Art Nouveau style cup is represented, which was made in the silversmith’s workshop of the Norwegian artist Jacob Tostrup, between 1880-1890. The cup with a vivid chromatic is made in a combination of metal wire and enamel, in a very difficult technique, of great virtuosity.
The stamp with a face value of Lei 7 shows a piece with remarkable artistic values, but also with a special historical significance: a silver box, made in the Christofle’s workshop in Paris and offered to King Carol I in 1906, on the occasion of celebration of his 40th year of rule. The box is decorated with scenes from the War of Independence and from the daily life of Romanians and with figurines representing Romanian soldiers and peasants, executed with great finesse of details.
On the stamp with a face value of Lei 9 an Eclectic style carafe is depicted, made in the Munich workshop of the artist Edmund Wollenweber, towards the end of the 19th century. The carafe is made of crystal by the technique of blowing into the mold, cutting and sanding. The handle and lid are made of gilded silver, richly ornamented.
The stamp with a face value of Lei 10.50 shows a gilded silver figurine, representing a queen. The figurine dates from the beginning of the 19th century. The silver is processed by various techniques (cast, hammered, perforated, chiseled) and is adorned with cabochons made of precious and semiprecious stones of different colours.
On the perforated souvenir sheet of the issue, with a face value of Lei 31.50, a fruit bowl made of venitian glass is represented, which was made in the Salviati workshop at the end of 19th century. This beautiful object resulted from applying various techniques of glassmaking (blowing, shaping, twisting, opalization, gilding) and impresses both by elegance of its contours and by its colour.
On the two First Day Covers are imprinted images representing two of the sumptuous rooms of Peles Castle; the dining room and the workroom of Queen Elizabeth.
The philatelic folder is created into a limited run printing of 233 copies and is equipped with the special philatelic block of six imperforated stamps, with a graphic design to which an ornamental rhombus-shaped perforation is added and the First Day stamp clearly imprinted in gold foiling. The special philatelic block is numbered from 001 to 233.
Romfilatelia thanks the manager Narcis-Dorin Ion and the documentation team of the Peles National Museum for the support provided for the development of this postage stamps issue.
