Circular Non-Postals

½a circular    1a circular    4a circular

Srinagar may have assumed control over the three Jammu circular dies in the spring of 1881. A deluge of oilcolor reprinting on both native and wove papers has come down to us from the post-1881 “Srinagar” period. There is the theoretical possibility that Jammu also did some reprinting in the May 1878 to April 1881 period. If so, certain non-postal items produced on the European laid paper make for obvious candidates, given that Jammu had made use of just such paper for its last postal circulars and the first New Rectangulars. In any case, if they are not reprints proper, they are likely postal-era paper or pigment trials. This being J&K, the true story is probably a mixture of the two and something else besides. Srinagar seems not to have been particularly enamoured of the laid paper, for only a few very rare Kashmir trials are known in something similar.

½a Circular Non-postals

In the tradition, one diagnostic for an item to be deemed a reprint, as opposed to an “original,” is the thinner, more-polished character of the paper. For items not on such paper, one is instructed to take a dim view of sharp impressions. Trying to distinguish smudgy reprints from sharp originals must be a blighted and thankless craft. We simply do not try, preferring to cast into the “non-postals” box any stamp that did not have the good fortune to be used for postage.

A ½a black oilcolor on native paper. Probable reprint, though the paper is not thin.

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 was not explained. 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.

Séfi & Mortimer chronicle only a ½a bright blue and a ½a dull blue in their list of blue reprints on native paper. While the item on the left is a nice candidate for the bright, the item on the right may or may not be their dull blue; while it has some affinities with the slate-blues of the postal issues, the pigment is something of a cross between Prussian-blue and indigo and in daylight there is a strong greenish cast to it.

The ½a rosine? oilcolor on native paper. In daylight this has a pinky hue, but the darker regions are much like those of the vermilion red. For better or worse, we are guided here by the SG Colour Guide. Only a vermilion, pale red, and a rosine are reported by Séfi & Mortimer’s in their chronicle of the ½a red reprints on native paper. The rosine is also known for the 4a circular. Eames treats the rosine as a color trial on account of the tell-tale rosine staining found on the early sage-green productions, also taken to be trials.

The ½a vermilion in ink on smooth, very thin, toned wove paper. Spurious cancellation. A bit of an oddity: the design is right, but if actually produced from the original die, this type must be one of the sharpest of extant impressions. Can we take advantage of that in any way? Is that perchance a dot at the upper-right of the ja-element in Jammu? If so it would formally double the m, which would be nice.

The ½a dull orange oilcolor on native paper. This item has at least four counterparts, in the 1a and 4a circulars and in both values of the 2nd Kashmir plate. A rather similar orange is seen on the 4a and 8a New Rectangulars of 1881 on thin wove paper, mostly seen as 1890s reissues.

Séfi & Mortimer’s reckoning of the ½a oilcolor circular reprints on the native and wove papers are given below. Only the black, vermilion, and green on native paper are likely to be in contention with originals. A few rather commonly encounted items do not fit satisfyingly into the Séfi & Mortimer chronicle. A couple of such examples are shown here. Starred (*) items are tentatively added to the listing.

Above: Are these really the yellow-green and bluish-green of the Séfi listing? In any case, we prefer to call them green and grey-green, respectively. To our eye, the latter really has no hint of blue to it; it is in fact much like one of the shades of the late 1a green New Colors, also called grey-green.

The ½a On Laid Paper

The ½a bright yellow on very thick European laid paper. It often comes with a non-postal cancellation as shown here. Eames takes these to be reprints in India Post 29 p 89 (1995), thus further challenging the long-eroding dictum that the European laid papers were not used in reprint productions.

The ½a bright yellow-green on European laid paper. Apart from a passing reference to this item by Séfi and Mortimer as being a possible “laid-paper reprint” (along with a 4a bright blue), there is curiously little notice in the literature about this wayward, if rather commonly seen, object.

1a Circular Non-postals

We are again content with the word “non-postal” if a type is not known from the mails, and leave the matter of finer taxonomies to wiser heads. A number of items may be pigment experiments from the transition year, and not therefore reprints in the technical sense.

While Séfi chronicles only a 1a “blue” and a 1a “greyish-blue” for the native paper reprints, a broader range of shades is seen. In daylight, the circular on the left is very close in shade and demeanor to one of the 1a Kashmir non-postal strips, sometimes called a “proof strip,” but which may be just a reprint strip.

The preceding is an curious item on an unusually brittle and rough non-wove non-laid paper somewhat reminiscent of the older ‘rice papers’ of some of the Die I forgeries. The impression shown here has a greenish cast in daylight and might pass muster for a reasonable indigo.

Left, the 1a brick-red on native paper. Eames speaks of experimental printings in brick-red from the transitional year. In any case, it is not attested in postal use. It has non-postal counterparts in the ½a and 4a circulars, and possibly the 8a Kashmir single-die. On the right (done on a different scanner) is another type of non-postal with the distinctive pigment striations, sometimes said to be characteristic of reprints. We do not know to which of the several reds in Séfi’s chronicle it should correspond, if indeed to any of them.

A 1a brown-red oilcolor circular on native paper in a very sharp printing is another non-postal item of note. We shown an example in the 4a below. The shade and demeanor is like that of the rare Jammu plate block chronicled as a reprint block in Gibbons (shown downscreen).

The 1a dull orange oilcolor on native paper. Certainly a safe reprint if we deem the Kashmir plate strips to be of late vintage, a view bolstered in turn if one also deems this brand of ‘Srinagar orange’ late.

Non-postals, 1a green oilcolors on native paper. There is inconsistency in the use of color terms here. On these pages, following Eames and contrary to SG, we use the term ‘olive-green’ to refer to the darker, blotchy postals, and employ ‘green’ (sometimes sage-green) for the non-postal productions of lighter or brighter hue, which are also usually of sharper demeanor and which exist in large multiples. The matter is complicated by the highly composite nature of the pigment on all of these productions. Paper studies suggest that some of this non-postal class may have been experimental printings of the transition year 1877-78, and thus technically not reprints.

The preceding is the largest known multiple of a 1a in green oilcolor on native paper, a spectacular from the Jaiswal collection, whom we thank for this image.

The purples are a bit interesting. The Haverbeck auction catalogue mentions that purple reprints on native paper in the 1a and 4a denominations are rare (Lot 1299) and none exist at all in the ½a. Well, maybe they are not really as scarce as all that. We found a couple in our box of stamps.

The 1a bright purple oilcolor on native paper. A very pretty print. Some doubt has been raised in the past about their reprint status. Do check out Séfi & Mortimer’s note in this link. These authors conclude with the statement, “As, in 1878-79, this purple was for the first time introduced for two denominations of the new rectangular stamps, it is not impossible that the purple oil circulars on native paper had a more legitimate origin than has, as yet, been supposed.” We note that Eames does not include the purples in his discussion of the experimental printings, taking them to be, we must suppose, later reprints. Another class of purple printings on native paper exist (above right) that are scruffier and duller. They also exist in the 4a denomination. The violet smudge on the left edge of the stamp is reminiscent of the aniline (supposed) dye stain that is produced when some of the early New Rectangulars are presented to water.

So herewith, finally, is tabulated Séfi & Mortimer’s reckoning of the 1a circular reprints on both the native and wove papers. The woves are reported as occuring on both the toned and smooth white varieties. The 1a chocolate toned wove is said to be rare. Starred (*) entries are items added tentatively to the listing. What is not included here are the reprint-like objects on European laid paper.

The 1a On Laid Paper

The 1a grey-black oilcolor on thick white European laid paper. Reprints on European laids may not be as mythical as unicorns after all. In daylight, the shade has a non-black cast to it, of subtle bluish or greenish persuasions. A 1a grey-black oilcolor Brighton forgery on thin white laid paper is mentioned, but this example is not like the Brightons we know and hate.

4a circular Non-postals

Left, the 4a brown-red oilcolor on native paper in a bit of a winey mood. Eames takes these to be early color trials. One can certainly find rather good matches with early New Rectangulars on European laid paper, where the pigment would seem to be identical but for a slight thinning. Right, the 4a dull scarlet oilcolor on native paper, which again finds an almost perfect match with a dull scarlet in the early New Rectangulars, and again suggests a color trial of 1878.

Séfi & Mortimer mention only two red reprints in the 4-anna denomination: a “red,” by which they might mean one or another of the preceding or something else altogether, and a ‘rosine’. Our understanding, perhaps erroneous, of a rosine circular is shown upscreen in the ½a section.

Left, the 4a yellow-bistre oilcolor reprint on native paper. This may or may not be the sole yellow of the Séfi & Mortimer reprints listing. An ‘ochre’ in the Haverbeck Sale 1298 is known overprinted in black with SPECIMEN. The reprint has several counterparts in the other two circulars, and both denominations of the first Kashmir plate. On the right, another of the dull oranges on native paper.

The 4a ‘green’ on native paper. These are complex creatures consisting of two or three separate components, such as a dun background wash, small emerald blobs, and other superposed green. These stamps are generally of lighter hue than originals and tend to come in less blotchy, less oily, impressions. Eames refers to these as experimental printings in sage-green, and to the originals as olive greens.

The 4a purple oilcolor on native paper. This has a slightly brighter counterpart in the 1a denomination. Séfi & Mortimer‘s reprint listing reports a ‘deep purple’ in this 4a denomination, which may or may not be the shade seen above. It doesn’t seem particularly ‘deep’.

Here now collected is Séfi & Mortimer’s reckoning of the 4a circular reprints on both native and wove papers. For the latter, each type is listed as coming in both toned and smooth white varieties. Not all of these may now be extant. Oh, and a couple of scans of toned woves for the record, namely the 4a deep black and 4a deep blue.

The 4a On Laid Paper

A 4a bright blue on European laid paper. Séfi and Mortimer mention such a curious beast as a possible candidate reprint on the laid paper.

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