Artistamps March 2011
Here we have the first few artistamps of March 2011, got any ideas for future artistamps, then please do send them in!
The Doll's Festival (Hinamatsuri) takes place on March 3rd. Hinamatsuri is a time to pray for the health and well being of young girls. Most homes with young girls will set up a display of dolls as seen in the artistamp. Around the display dedications of peach blossoms, cube rice, cakes, special coloured and diamond shaped rice cakes, and white sake are made. This ceremony is similar to a Chinese ceremony in which the sins of the body are transferred to a doll that is then set adrift on a river. The celebration of this festival in Japan is traceable to the Edo Period (1603-1867). If anybody has any other information or possibly postal related items about this festival then please do send them in and I'll feature them here.
The Star Spangled Banner was adopted by Congress as the national anthem on this day in 1931. Any related items, stamps, cards etc then please do send in! Artistamp shows "The Star Spangled Banner" monument to Francis Scott Key, who wrote the anthem's lyrics, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA. Photograph attributed to Joe Mabel.
Here is Positively Postal artistamp for March 5th 2011, which marks the "invention" on this day of the parachute by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519). He imagined and sketched the idea centuries before Sebastien Lenormand came up with the modern version of what we now know as a parachute in 1783. The artistamp shows Da Vinci's first drawing of a parachute.
Here is Positively Postal's artistamp for 7th March 2011, marking this day back in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell was granted the patent for the telephone. Looking at the mobiles of today the telephone has indeed come a long way since then!
Here is today's Positively Postal artistamp marking The Ides of March, the name given to this day, the 15th March in the Roman calendar and probably referring to the day of the full moon. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god of Mars and a military parade was usually held. The term 'Ides of March' is best know as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44B.C. and it is that event which is shown on today's artistamp in the 1798 painting Mort de César by the artist Vincenzo Camuccini.
Positively Postal artistamp for March 19th marks the Jewish holiday of Purim which commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus planned to kill the Jews but his plans were folied by Mordechai and Queen Esther who are depicted writing letters to the Jews in the painting on the artistamp by Dutch painter Aert de Gelder (1645-1727).
Here is Sunday, 27th March Positively Postal's artistamp which I made from some rather cool mail art I recently received from Snappy in Canada. You can see more like this by following their blog.
Another day, another more unusal event, this time marking this day (30th March) in 1858 when the first patent was granted for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil! Apparently it was later retracted since it was determined to be simply two separate products/ideas brought together rather than creating a totally new product. Still, rather handy for rubbing things out in such things as maths problems, essays and the odd misgranted patent, don't you think!?.
Thursday's(31st March) artistamp shows a piece of mailart received under the banner PAPER from Serse Luigetti in Perugia, Italy.