'Chinese Landscape Painting' - Macau, 2016

'Chinese Landscape Painting' - Macau, 2016, posted on Oct 9th, from Macau to Shenyang, China, with the special and first day postmarks. Thank you, Boss He!

The stamp set includes the following water and ink paintings

• Autumn of Danxia
• Verdant Shennongjia
• A night of rain at the mountain, cascades from the rocks
• Waterfalls against the cliffs
• Golden Autumn of Xiajiang 

In 2016, the Macau Post issued two sets of Chinese painting stamps, which was unusual since both of them share similar audience (me :), for example). The additional postage was paid by using e-stamps, which has become a hot collecting topic among Macau stamp collectors. The Macau Post issues a Zodiac e-stamp every year with limited quantities and they have been sold out quickly and older issues on covers are highly sought-after. 

'Traveler at Shanyin County' - Taiwan, 2016

'Traveler at Shanyin County' (山陰客窗圖), Taiwan, 2016, posted from Taiwan to Shenyang, China, on Oct 24th, with first day postmarks. All the covers were mailed from the National Museum of History where the original painting is housed. Thank you Shiqing! 

1 - Cover with a pair souvenir sheet: The Changyong Post issued a pair of uncut souvenir sheet with a relatively small quantity. This is an official FDC. 

2 - Cover with two fan painting issues in 2016. This cover includes the other fan painting and calligraphy souvenir sheet issued on Jan 13th of the same year.

3 - Cover with a single souvenir sheet. 

Lan Ying (藍瑛) was a master from the Zhe School of China, who was mostly famous for his paintings of landscape, flowers, and people figures. His paintings reflect one of the traditional philosophies in oriental artwork, that is, the harmony between people and nature. His brushwork is simple but exquisite, again a reflection of the admiration of nature and simplicity in life shared by many oriental intellectuals. 

‘Painting and Calligraphy on the Fan Souvenir Sheet’ – Taiwan, 2016

Painting and calligraphy on the fan is a genre of Chinese art that the Chinese populace, especially intellectuals, cherish.  The FDC was issued on Jan 13th, 2016 featuring painting and calligraphy by Wen Zhengming, a famous artist in the Ming Dynasty. The fan is a prized exhibit of the National Museum of History, where the FDCs in the picture were sent. Both a paper and bamboo chip version were issued (mine is a paper version), which are the materials to make a fan. The additional five sets of fan painting and calligraphy stamps were issued in Taiwan during 1970s.

This set was purchased from another collector and remains as one of my favorites. The way that relevant stamps are added to the new issued FDC is called Jia Tie (). I am not sure whether this concept is popular in other countries but in China, it is becoming an area where collectors can maximize their knowledge, creation, and imagination, while minizine their pocket during the process. Well, some of them are too wealthy to care :)

'Paintings of Macao’s Famous Artists' - Macau, 2016

'Paintings of Macao’s Famous Artists' white and official FDC covers, posted on Aug 25, 2016 from Macau to Shenyang, China, with first day and special postmarks. Thank you, Boss He.

The quality of Macau stamps is exceptional. This stamp set is well designed and printed, which includes six stamps and a souvenir sheet. Based on the information provided by Macau Post, the following artists and paintings are included

• Multiple Artists, Joint Effort – “Pine, Chrysanthemum, Flowers and Birds”
• Ng Meng – “Meeting at the later year” “Mountain and Water”
• Lok Cheong – “Nest-bound Birds” “Sai Van Waterfront”
• Kuan Man Le – “Fishing Alone in the Willow Shade” “Angelfish” 
• Tam Chi Sang – “A Ma Temple” “ Kun Iam Temple”
• Kam Cheong Ling – “The Lifestyle of Fishing Harbour” “The Convent of the Precious Blood”
• Kwok Se – “Post Office” “Sailing Boats”

'175th Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin' and '150th Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov' - Russia, 2017

'The 175th Birth Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin (1842‒1904)' and 'The 150th Birth Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov (1862-1930)' souvenir sheets on cover, posted on Jul 25th, 2017, from Novosibirsk, Russia to New York, NY. The first souvenir sheet was first issued on May 24th, 2017 and the latter on Sep 9th, 2012. Thank you, Alexander!

Vasily Vereshchagin  (1842–1904) was one of the most famous war artists in Russia. He traveled extensively to war zones and even took part in combats. He enjoyed fame and controversy at the same time as his paintings realistically depict 'the horror of war'.

Abram Arkhipov was a member of the art collective The Wanderers (The Itinerants). He paints the life of the Russian peasants and landscapes. The stamp depicts his painting "Visiting", with his portrait as the backgroup. 

I got lucky this time as the cover was received before the local post office was able to freelance on it :). But there is still a small mark reads '8/2' which may indicate its arrival date. Alexander was amazed by its speed.

'Ancient Chinese Paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione, Qing Dynasty' - Taiwan, 2017

'Ancient Chinese Paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione, Qing Dynasty', posted on Oct 8th, 2015 from Taiwan to Shenzhen, with special and first day postmarks. The first two are official FDCs and the latter two are white covers.

Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世宁) was a prominent Italian painter, who served in the imperial court during Qing Dynasty's ascend to her peak. His paintings, which fuse the western skill with oriental culture, were well-regarded by the emperors he served, including Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. In addition, he was the architect in charge of designing the western-styled Old Summer Palace, which was looted and burned by the British and French armies in 1859.

The Changhua Post has issued several sets of stamps with Giuseppe Castiglione's paintings, including the 'Eight Prized Horses Paintings Postage Stamps' in 1973, the 'Peacocks' in 1991, this set in 2015, and the 'Flowers and Birds' in 2016 and 2017.

‘Back to Common Roots’ – Macau, 2017

Minisheet, stamp set, and souvenir sheet on covers from Macao to Shenyang, China, posted on Feb 10th, 2017, with first day special and day postmarks. Thank you, Boss He!

Local artist, Lok Hei, painted this Chinese traditional scroll painting. Here is the introduction published by Macao Post: the painting “illustrates in image form about the rich Chinese and Western culture with long history that meet at Macao, and affect each other creatively. The people come together and dedicate themselves in promoting the political, economic and cultural development of Macao; the joy of returning to the motherland and the new appearance of the special administrative region, etc. Lok Hei is the first person to create this kind of drawing in Macao’s art history.”