Essays Must Try Harder

We are all intrigued by 'what might have been' and each essay showing a rejected stamp design opens a window of refreshing alternative possibility.

The Anthony Winner collection of Malaya, to be offered in our March sale (catalogue now with the printers), offers no fewer than three of the essays produced by De La Rue in 1894 for the new Perak stamp issue. This bullock's head (lot 970) has a certain appeal but the sturdy animal's qualities were not seen as an adequate symbol of the State's power. The winning design ? A roaring tiger, no less.

Unique essays, particularly those that emphasize this by incorporating some element of handpainting, are highly sought after and priced accordingly at auction, even if there remains a chasm of difference between the prices paid for them in the 'Great Britain' market and those of many other countries.

But are all essays in equal demand ? Certainly not, there are plenty of poor relations, particularly those that were produced in any form of multiple, that remain significantly undervalued.

The “AFRICA” essays incorporating the head of Minerva (lot 93), used by De La Rue through the 1890s, have been longtime underperformers although some are as scarce as the popular “IMPERIUM” trials.

"A certain type of snobbery seems to exist where philatelic proofs and the like are involved where, unless only a few exist, they become the subject of scorn."

- to quote Andrew Norris from the Preface to his “Malaya: The Survey Department Essays of 1933-34", produced in 1985 but still the essential, comprehensive guide.

The Survey Department essays produced in 1933-34 for Straits Settlements and four Federated Malay States are another notable example of this phenomenon, changing hands for surprisingly low figures. Our last offering, a large group of 33 examples, sold last May for £973, an average of under £30 per impression. The four smaller groupings offered this time around will be closely watched for signs of a deserved growth in interest.

They are attractive items, produced in a wide range of colours in designs either interestingly similar or entirely different from the issued stamps. They are by no means all equally common yet their relative scarcity is little known or understood.

These essays show potential.

JG