France

Delandre Vignette

According to Walter Schmidt:

During the years of the first World War, many countries issued a variety of colorful seals. Some of these seals were designed to raise money for the Red Cross and other charities. Others were propaganda issues which often portrayed the brutality of the enemy. A third type were the regimental and military seals produced by a notorious French printer who called himself Delandre. To this day, the name Delandre evokes a negative response among many collectors in France and elsewhere. The reason for this is not a mystery to anyone familiar with Delandre's career.

According to Wikipedia:

Gaston Aime Camille Fontanille (11 May 1883 - 1923), also known just as Delandre, was a French entrepreneur and conman born in Valence, the son of a Magistrate.

One of Delandre's many schemes was the invention of the Delandre vignette which was a popular form of label or poster stamp during World War I. He started by reproducing Italian regimental vignettes when the supply of originals proved insufficient for his needs. From there he expanded to include French army stamps and ultimately he produced over 4000 different patriotic stamps which have become a popular collecting area in cinderella philately. Delandre responded to claims of forgery of the Italian vignettes by claiming that they were 're-impressions'. He explained in a 1916 letter that he sold three types, real ones, re-impressions and new stamps that he created himself. He also stated that he had produced successful facsimiles. Detailed catalogues of Delandre's oeuvre have been produced by Charles Kiddle and Walter Schmidt.

Following the success of Delandre's other productions, the French Red Cross asked him to produce similar stamps for them in order to raise funds. Unfortunately, despite selling many stamps, Delandre failed to pay the Red Cross their share of the proceeds and in 1917 he was arrested. He subsequently died in jail in 1923.

Delandre was arrested many times for various other schemes including the creation of a chemical company to which he appointed several prominent businessmen as directors without their knowledge, and the sale of noble titles of dubious status.

Other pseudonyms used by Gaston Fontanille include Commander Deville, The Baron Allard, The Marquis of Vaurens and The Count of Chabanes.

The details of this stamp are as follows:

Country:

Service Branch:

Specific Identifier:

Artist Name:

Description:

Catalogue #:

"Images of the Great War - Volume I - A Fully-Illustrated Catalogue of Delandre's French Military Vignettes 1914-1917"

Approximate Image Size:

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After 35+ years I decided to retire from being an active Cinderella Stamp dealer. Most of my working inventory plus backup stock was sold at public auction. However, I have retained some material that I will be offering for sale. In addition, I have some "new" material that was mixed into lots I have bought for my own collections. I will be listing some of the material in my eBay store at fixed prices. I will also be offering some material at auction, either as single items or mixed lots. There will be many bargains available. There will be large and small lots, some containing similar material, some containing a random mixture, and some containing only one or a few items. The condition will be mixed, but none of the lots will be just accumulations of damaged or faulty stamps (unless specifically listed as such).

Items in stockpage or larger lots may be removed and repackaged into glassines to save on shipping costs.

A Note about Poster Stamps and Gum: Because many poster stamp collectors are primarily interested in the image on the stamp, the absence or presence of gum on the back is of little concern. If no mention of gum is made, then there may or may not be gum present. If you are only interested in poster stamps with original gum, please inquire before bidding. Actual condition issues (that are not apparent from the scan) WILL be described.

A Note about "Stock Images": Occasionally I will have more than one example of an item in inventory. Rather than scan each one individually, I may use the same image for multiple examples of the item. If that is the case, the item supplied will be in substantially the same, or better, condition than the image. Any such items will have the words: "STOCK IMAGE" at the end of the description.

Keywords: cinderella poster stamps vignettes viñeta reklamemarke samlermærke advertising exhibition exposition seal label erinnofilo mærkat chiudilettera revenue fiscal duty charity