½a Native-Paper Oilcolors
June 1877 is sometimes mentioned as the advent month for the postal oilcolors in both the native and the European laid papers. Consequently one is always on the lookout for earlier sightings. Two key references are Tim Eames India Post 29 88-90 and India Post 29 129 (1995). The links here below take us down this page:
½a Oilcolor Blacks
The ½a grey-black oilcolor on native paper. The scan is of an external cover Jammu to Amritsar dated 19 January 1878, ex Masson, ex Dawson.
An “embossed effect” subvariety is characterized by a deeper than normal impression in the native paper. The effect is often best seen from the back where the rays of the sun emblem appear as deeply grooved spokes. Eames also reports an embossed type in grey-black printers’ ink on native paper. These bring to mind the ¼a ink strip rectangulars on European laid paper that were produced in the spring of 1878, India Post 29, 112 (1995).
The ½a Oilcolor Blues
The ½a slate-blue oilcolor on native paper. These come in a wide range of shades, some nearly black to the casual glance. Lore (that is, Séfi-Mortimer) has it that they were never reprinted, but the argument behind that dictum is not forthcoming. This scarce block of eight was printed on the thin polished sort of paper often considered diagnostic for reprints, as is also the fact of its being a large multiple. We should therefore very much like to know of the story that says that this is not a reprint block.
The ½a slate-blue on native paper in rare postal use. This is a detail from a Jammu to Amritsar cover dated 21 assūj 1934 ~ 5 October 1877 and delivered on 19 October. Hellrigl collection.
A class of brighter blues (Eames’ steel-blue oilcolor) on native paper is recorded by him at least thrice on covers in the very late April-May 1878 period. Its counterpart in the 1a is also known unused and used on May ‘78.
½a Oilcolor Reds
A ½a vermilion-red oilcolor on native paper. Eames reports that the first red oilcolors date from June 1877 and these appear in a “somewhat brighter vermilion-red shade.” They are seen postally used in all three denominations of the circulars, and in the Jammu plate as well. Séfi & Mortimer reports a reprint in vermilion and we are not sure whether the example shown be an example of that or actually passes muster as an original.
Reds. Starting in late summer 1877 a range of deeper shades in different demeanors show up, some showing up in all three denominations. Not all are known in postally-used condition.
The ½a orange-vermilion oilcolor on native paper. It has counterparts in the Jammu rectangulars and shares features seen in the Kashmir rectangulars, such as the mottled darkening.
A ½a orange-red oilcolor circular on native paper. This it is mentioned by Eames as existing in unused condition only. Such printings are similar in appearance to watercolor impressions in this shade, and testing with water is required. Again there is a counterpart in the Jammu plate.
The ½a deep orange-red oilcolor on native paper, March 1878. It has a definite orange cast in daylight. The second item shows a close shade counterpart from the Jammu plate.
Left, the ½a brown-red oilcolor on native paper. These stamps are known only in postally used condition. The earliest we have seen is a March 1878 printing, and they persist into April, pressing very close to the advent of the New Rectangulars. The latest shade variety may be as in the example on the right, the ½a deep brown-red oilcolor on native paper, April 1878. Again, there are shade counterparts with the Jammu plate.
½a Oilcolor Yellows
A ½a yellow oilcolor on native paper is not reported in the literature so far as we are aware. It does exist, both postally and non-postally, among the European ► laids.
½a Oilcolor Greens
Vexed matter, the greens. All types are characterized by a relatively uniform substrate in ‘dun’ or ‘sage.’ A more overtly green component that did not assimilate well with the base pigment has the appearance of being spattered sparsely over top. The pair of stamps contrasted below (same scanner, same setting) reveals something of the range. Well, they are really exemplars of two rather distinct classes, for most any item in question can be assigned to one or the other class with little hesitation. The item on the left, blotchy to reputation, is an uncontroversial “original,” supposing that any unused oilcolor merits the rank. As to the status of the other class, represented here in the 4a, we leave the call to wiser heads: Is it a collector reprint? An early pigment trial (cf. Eames)? Or a late pigment trial for New Rectangulars? There is indeed a run of 1a New Rectangular greens that exhibit a similar bright green, sometimes almost an emerald-green, beading over just such a dun base:
With fewer than a dozen examples off-cover of the type shown on the left, many J&Kers have naturally been led to the bootless exercise of trying to distinguish originals and reprints from among the second general class. Market valuation is gravely erratic in consequence. The SG catalogue pricing for unused copies feels much like a bad average of the two extremes; too low for the one, too high for the other. Some brazen “expertizers” have been a bit too confident in handing out their blessings-by-certificate.
For another of the currently uncontroversial originals, here is a telling example in the 1-anna. Note the prominence of the oily dun underlay. Hellrigl collection, ex Atkinson.
Examples of the ½a postally used at Jammu. These details are from covers dated July 1877 in the Hellrigl collection. The four examples #114-15, #117-18 in the Sturton Blue Sale should also be inspected. The postal 4a are rather clean and unblotchy impressions by comparison, but are still distinctive in hue and demeanor, forming a class unto themselves.
The ½a bluish-green oilcolor on native paper. Séfi & Mortimer mention a bluish-green only in their native-paper reprints listing.