Indigenous art, no’s 18-22
All objects shown are from the collection
of the Royal
Museum of Central Africa (MRAC), Tervuren-Belgium. Its collection of
ethnographic objects from Central Africa is the only one of its kind in the
world. It also has in its keeping the entire archives of Henry Morton Stanley
which are of great historical value. The Royal Museum for Central Africa came
into being following the World Fair of 1897. As part of this prestigious event,
and to arouse public interest in the Congo Free State, Léopold II organized an
exhibition on the Congo, which was held in the “Palais des Colonies” in
Tervuren. The overwhelming success of this exhibition led, in 1898, to the
founding of the first Museum of the Congo.
Original printed for the Belgium Congo, 8th December 1947 (no’s 286, 288, 293-295)
Date of issue: 22 September 1960
Expiration date: 1 July 1961
Design:
Printing:
Institut de Gravure et d'Impression de Papiers-Valeurs, Paris
Overprint by: IMBELCO in Elisabethville (KATANGA)
Perforation: 12 x 12.5
Size: 22 x 36 mm
Sheet: 50 (10 x 5)
Marginal inscriptions: sides are white, top and bottom with mosaic and curly letters.
Circulation: 6.500 series
No 18. Blue-green & pink-lilac. Dance mask from the Ba-Kuba Kingdom
No 19. Red-brown & green. Seated musician, Ba-Tshokwe
No 20. Gold-red & violet-brown. Dance mask from the Ba-Luba
No 21. Orange & black. Dance mask from the Ba-Kuba Kingdom
No 22. Red-pink & black. Dance mask from the Ba-Luba
The series:
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No 18a. 1,50 on 15c (no 278, Belgium Congo)
This is not an official issued stamp, how many sheets where overprinted is not known.
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Varieties: reversed overprint no’s 20-21
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Several examples (no 20) of moved overprint and double overprint “a cheval”
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Apparently no 21 (50 F) exist also “a cheval”
Notice the A with “half moon” on bottom, also found on other stamps of this series
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Notice the moved print of the mask, to the right. Exists for the no’s 20 & 22.
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More examples of moved or damaged overprints
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No 21
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No 18
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No 18 “moved overprint”
No 19 exist with slanting overprint (no example to show).
Remark on varieties known in 20-23 (see Belgium Congo no’s 293V-295V)
No 20, horizontal line on the bottom.
No 21, hair under the mask
No 22, horizontal line on the bottom. Several different lines in the beard of the mask.