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Post by paul1 on Jul 29, 2023 21:06:17 GMT
this is one just one of the several separate cities/provinces within the UAE, with Ras Al Khaima bordering the Persian Gulf. As most of the issues from UAE are from recent decades they're outside my collecting area, but in view of my very long time interest in lepidoptera, I've started taking an interest in issues showing butterflies and moths, and this 15 Dirhams value is probably from a short set of which currently I have only two values. Am sure the set comprises butterflies only. The reason for showing this particular stamp is remarkable - unlike probably all pix of butterflies that end up on stamps - the images of which always show the upper side of the insect - this one shows the underside. No doubt a genuine mistake, and the designer was almost certainly unaware that the dead insect in question was upside down - you can see from the other photo attached, what both the upper and under side look like. Entomologists often 'set' some species upside down if they've a need to make comparison regarding morphology. This is the 'Painted Lady', possibly one of the most globally common migratory butterflies.   |
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Post by outremer01 on Aug 16, 2023 8:53:48 GMT
Paul1 - you are correct - this set (Mi 614-619) comprises butterflies only. This set was issued pre-unification during a period when stamps were issued for the philatelic market, often with subjects that would seem to be odd and/or offensive given the culture and religion (depiction of living persons, nudes etc) and are therefore somewhat looked down upon by many collectors.
Aside from that, I like them, the bright images and - often - large format does lend itself to protrayal of subjects such as insects, fish and mammals.
I only have one from this set:
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Post by paul1 on Aug 16, 2023 11:17:09 GMT
Hi outremer01 - my comment about all values in this set likely being images of butterflies was brought about by the anomaly that despite the assumption (and perhaps the designer's intention) that most lepidoptera on stamps are butterflies, the occasional moth creeps in - this almost certainly passes unnoticed by stampers. I've not a clue as to the first stamps to show butterflies, though I think salentin commented something to do with this a while back, but I now forget what was said. I'd suggest that if a theme was wanted, butterflies might make an outstanding area to collect (the stamps of course) - albeit that the vast majority would be post 1970 - so too recent for me. As for this set (Mi 614 - 619) I also have the 1.70 Riyals, which shows what is possibly another species from the genus Apatura (your stamp shows an Apatura species) though it's correct name doesn't appear on the stamp, and I can't run it down just for now by image alone. Unfortunately, judging by the three stamps that are shown here from the set in question, the designer obviously wasn't having a good day when putting this group together - very amusingly, the 1.70 Riyals Air Mail stamp shows simply the words Lepidopteres Exotiques, which in everyday French simply means 'exotic butterflies' - rather than the specific name of the insect. But we mustn't be picky - just love these things for what they are. As for early stamps showing butterflies - I've attached picture of SG 171 showing a 1c. black from Sarawak from 1950 (George VI set), which shows a very reduced size example of Rajah Brooke's Birdwing - though the b. & w. image rather defeats the object of showing what is actually a stunningly brilliant emerald green and dense black large butterfly - I 'd imagine this must be a fairly early stamp showing a butterfly. I don't go out of my way to collect stamps with butterflies - they come in usually with other things - but will look out for the other values in the Mi 614 - 619 set, out of curiosity to see how the other values fare in terms of text description. many thanks for your contribution to this thread.  |
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