X501

St. Francis of Assisi

Patron Saint of Italy

Collins Cover Announcement 

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

The design of the stamp for this issue gave me an inspiration for an "entire" cachet lay-out. The stamp shows Francis (upper-body and head) sharing his Lave with birds gathered on the branches of a tree. By placing the stamp at the upper left, it becomes the starting point for the hand painted cachet. The rest of Francis' body is extended down from the stamp and to the right of the stamp a full tree appears with its branches "attached" to those of the stamp. Under the branches, a deer, squirrel, and pair of rabbits have joined the flock of birds in their attention to Francis of Assisi. Behind this peaceful scene, beautiful clouds give the whole cachet a sense of continuity and a hint of pink at the horizon is a gentle buffer between heaven and earth. I believe that you will rate this full cover cachet as not only one of the best COLLINS FDCs in your collection but as one of the finest cachets of any you have seen. Also I know that you will enjoy the way that the design of the cachet is an extension of the design of the stamp. This may be a first of its kind.

So as not to infringe on the cachet design, the stamp is hand canceled with a small bullseye tying it to cover. Due to lack of room and not wanting the distraction of a second stamp, there is no duo cancel.

I hope that all COLLINS collectors will avail themselves to this FDC simply put it's a good one. Item X501 - $5.50

Autum 2019 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 6 X501 — St. Francis of Assisi — 10/7/82

A Collins "first" in cachetmaking. I used the stamp in the cachet as part of the design. The design on the stamp depicted St. Francis from the shoulders up as he fed little birds on tree branches. Placing the stamp strategically on the envelope, I completed his body, completed the tree, and added some appealing forest animals as the cachet design. Hand painting in watercolors to coordinate with the colors in the stamp completed the scene. Several cachetmakers have used this technique since, but this was the very first time it was officially recognized as the first cachet using this design technique in the 2019 St. Louis Americover exhibit that won the "Most Popular" award. It is an honor that Collins was the founding pioneer on a cachetmaking technique now known as "extension art" or "stampcentric."