23 July 2021
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The name ‘Czeslaw Slania’ is synonymous with beautifully engraved stamps from countries around the world, and this year marks the birth centenary of the famous stamp artist. Many post offices are marking this anniversary with special stamps, including the Faroe Islands , adding a new chapter to Slania’s unique stamp story.
The amazing diversity of Slania's artistic talents reached its full potential in the stamps he engraved for the Faroese Postal Administration. These include landscapes, buildings, carvings, flora, fauna and people in different situations. In particular, his portraits of Faroese authors and his images of folk life are of superb quality.
Slania also engraved two souvenir sheets for Posta - the first for the Faroese Postal Service's 25th anniversary. The second sheet depicted a painting of the Faroese chain dance by the Danish painter Emil Kruse. This souvenir sheet was also Czeslaw Slania 's 100th Faroese stamp - and the last one he made for Posta.
The greatest masterpiece among Slania's Faroese stamps is undoubtedly the famous Ram stamp. It is a detailed and utterly exquisite portrait of an adult ram with impressive horns, looking like it will jump out of the stamp frame at any time. The anecdote has it that at the time Slania was actually working on another engraving but was so fascinated by the beautiful and spectacular ram that he kept returning to it.
In connection with the 100th anniversary of Czeslaw Slania's birth, Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are each issuing their own souvenir sheet, all featuring Slania's portrait but with different backgrounds, typical of each country. An overview of the town of Klaksvík is engraved on the Faroese stamp sheet with Kunoy island’s southernmost end reigning supreme in the background.
The souvenir sheets are engraved by the renowned engraver, Martin Mörck, who many consider to be Slania's heir in the field of engraving.
