Sunday 5 March 2017

Rooster

1981: Year of the Rooster
As flamboyant as one would wish a rooster to be and there is not just one rooster in this barnyard
Designer: Cheng Chuanli - Engraver: Sun Hongnian
I hope they are not going to fight.  As you can see these stamps are from a booklet.  I discovering that the original artist was Zhang Ding (1917-2010) who encompassed all types of art, design and calligraphy as well as being a teacher and art critic.  I am not sure but think this rooster was first designed as a tapestry and displayed at the Beijing Institute of Research for Carpets.  Zhang Ding was born in NE China first drawing caricatures and later shifting to design.  He participated in the creation of the national emblem of China and the first group of commemorative stamps after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949.
1981: Booklet Cover Year of the Rooster
Goodness this barnyard is full of roosters.  Room for any more?
1999: Twelve Animals of the Lunar New Year Cycle
The designer is Kan Tai-keung who has been involved in Hong Kong's Lunar New Year stamps for many years, more than 12 lunar cycles, and still doing it today. He also designed the 1997 definitive stamps after the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China.  

Do you want an early morning rooster call?
1996: 100 Years of Going to the Cinema - A Celebration
Here is the British Pathé News rooster whose cock-a-doodle-doo and then dramatic music heralded that weeks news at the cinema in the days when you got a news short before the one or two films showing that week. British Pathé was formed in 1896 when this was the only way to see what was happening in the world but with the advent of television and the immediacy of the news available it eventually ceased in 1970. Today it is still in business but as a fascinating film archive.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Roosters - more fine feathers at See It On A Postcard
   

5 comments:

FinnBadger said...

Thanks for all the roosters today. Love the colors on the 1981 stamp.

violet s said...

The Hong Kong rooster matches nicely with the barnyard flowers.
The 1981 roosters look a bit odd to me, though they make me think of a modern stained glass window.

Bob Scotney said...

I had never seen that Pathe News stamp before. Lunar new year stamps abound this week - great to see.

Maria said...

I think I'm partial with the first stamp with the bright colors and that rooster looks aggressive!

Heleen said...

So many beautiful stamps!

And I am surprised by - and like - the Pathé stamp. There are cinemas in the Netherlands named Pathé (a cinema chain), and I didn't know the history, it seems they are family of the British Pathé!?!