Stamp Colour ID Keys: Gibbons & Others

I have always looked at colours as a problem. Sure, a stamp properly mounted in an album, away from lights and the sun will have excellent colour to it. Along as it isn't stored in humid, musty conditions! But any washing or light/sun fading, foxing, silverfish conditions and BAM! They you go, colour varieties! It happens all the time. So I take varieties in colour with a grain of salt. Different colours? Sure, but a grey-blue or a blue-grey? Please, just give me the basic stamp and I'll be happy. It is too easy to get lost in all the variables of colour, especially when they can easily be altered.

This one is termed A Colour Dictionary by B W Warhurst, published by Stanley Gibbons in 1899. As the title suggests, it is more than just a colour chart, it is is also a fascinating discourse on the subject. At 48 pages, I can only offer a sample selection of pages. The cover is reather dirty so I'm showing the title page first instead.


Scan_20201130 (2) by Daniel, on Flickr

Scan_20201130 (5) by Daniel, on Flickr

Scan_20201130 (4) by Daniel, on Flickr

Scan_20201130 (3) by Daniel, on Flickr

Scan_20201130 (6) by Daniel, on Flickr

Hi again, Vince (stanley64), to continue a tangential discussion based on your recent post in the Portugal & Colonies Ceres thread:
Well, hopefully, this will be a better place for this related discussion.  As you pointed out, I agree that it seems that colour varieties are one of those areas that can provide lasting entertainment or consternation depending on one's inclination on the subject. Generally, I enjoy finding and correctly identifying colour varieties, but the one snag for me is how to organize them for display.

My OCD tendencies mean that I normally like to show a definitive set with one example of each value arranged in ascending order by value, but then what to do with the colour varieties, as I don't want my set to have 3 variants of one value, then 2 of the next and so on.

So, how do you do it, Vince? Do you arrange the full set in sequence on one page, and then colour varieties on a separate page?  And if you do that, do you then have a duplicate of the colour shown in the "one of each value" set, so that each range of colour variations is shown in full?

Just curious, as I have not been consistent with the pages I have arranged in my own collection, especially with Cape of Good Hope rectangles.

color is always of interest to me as a collector of "shades/nuances". I have the SG color guide, and while helpful sometimes.... it seems more helpful for stamps of GB as things seem to to get lost int he translation. It is unfortunate that there is not a color guide for each country that the catalogues are based on.... but I do understand time, sulfur, oxidation, sunlight, acid papers, dirt all can have an effect on the inks used.

I have looked at many color charts, from digital color circles and they all seem to suffer  (at least in my mind) from an attempt to put things into a gradual (linear), which works well enough when you are just looking at say  a green which could easily be lumped into  a combination of blue and yellow pigments... but then black pigment and white pigment throw a curve ball, as does the introduction of other pigments that by themselves have little to do with  the color blue.../

these are the kind of thoughts that come to mind at 3:--AM when I'm awake and staring at the ceiling....  I now try to just go back to sleep

I have decided at best, color is a very abstract "thing"

in response to @berylliumgum and how to display, at one point I was going to just have a page with the "main" color and each denomination of a series, and place the shades on a separate page, but I settled on all on same page and in many cases limit (as in the case of France)  pages to 1-3 denomination, sometimes more if there are only one or two colors for each.  The Sage series has been a true test to commitment!

Like all of stamping, however you decide is the best way for you!

I also have one of the Stanley Gibbons' Colour Guides with the Perkins Bacon stamps and it is a different edition. Not in great condition but it was cheap. I'm showing the front and back covers, note that there was one other contributor to this project, Harrison and Sons who printed the folder.

Thanks michael, great information as always. So, it appears that my version is number 1. Since they are all marked Improved Edition, there must have been an earlier version and we can see from your link that there was a Chart 2077 (the same number as ours) but 'with 45 used stamps' which must be the earlier version.

daniel , yes your colour guide is No 1.

Since posting, I've found that I obtained the details on the 6 versions identified by Otto from an exhibit at the 2016 Stampex, entitled "Edward Stanley Gibbons (1840-1913)". Unfortunately I don't have the name of the exhibitor.

Thanks for your posts, George (gstamps) and Stan (stainlessb).

Unless I am mistaken, George’s image is from one of the Stanley Gibbons color guides. The earliest ones had actual stamps in them, but the later ones just have solid blocks of colors.

The current one has the individual strips like the kind used for paint color samples for decorating.

to give some clarity- here is the definition of Delta E. As it is  based on a range of o - 100 , I think it safe to look at it as percentage (the closer to 0, the closer the colors)

Delta E is calculated on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. 0 represents less color difference, whereas 100 shows full distortion. According to an explanation from Zachary Schuessler in this guide, standard perception ranges are: <= 1.0: Cannot be perceived by the human eye

or said another way


Delta E* (Total Color Difference) is calculated based on delta L*, a*, b* color differences and represents the distance of a line between the sample and standard. In addition to quantifying the overall color difference between a sample and standard color, delta E* was intended to be a single number metric for Pass/Fail tolerance decisions.

gstamps was kind enough to send me the .jpg images he had of the earlier SG colour guide. I sampled each color (100 total) and maybe 10% or so was Delta E <2.0, none was a dead match. Most were with Delta E 5.0 or less, and a few, the SG colour from my colour guide were >5.0. This could be from whoever scanned these and the scanner settings, or it could as well be that variations in the ink mixing at the time they were printed was not :"an exact science'.  However, it is worthwhile IMHO to have more color samples when comparing. The colour names themselves are  more of a pointer than an absolute.  I wish the colour guides were not so expensive. I would like to sample the latest and greatest SG, as well as Michel guides different from my own version.

I just did a TSF Google search, and if the result is correct, I don't think that the publication I am about to mention has been cited on the Forum before.  Have any of you heard of this one before?
I had never heard of this book before, but another collector who attended my recent BESG presentation thought I might be interested in it and sent me an electronic copy (PDF), which apparently came from the United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS).  That same collector told me that this book is considered to be the most important color guide of all-time, and that it was used extensively by Clarence Brazer for identifying colors of U.S. Essays & Proofs.

The book has 53 color plates in it and covers 1,115 named colors.  I have only had a quick skim through, but it looks like a worthwhile reference for students of color.  If anyone would like to receive a copy, I am happy to share.  Please just contact me by PM and provide me with your email address.

Stay color stampy, all!

I  like this book already!

from page 11

...showing very
clearly the utter worthlessness of color names unless
fixed or standardized.