Another long ago portrait of one nobody remembers, until one asks a philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
There are a ton of these stamps from 100-150 years ago. A formal portrait of a leader. As time passes and memories fade, the portrait becomes ever more of a not relatable blank state. As I am writing this, the official portraits of President and Mrs. Obama are revealed. They have a more cartoonish background and are less true to life. Some are of course mocking but I think it was an attempt to set his presidency apart from those who came before and after. Over time we will see if the result is clownish or causes later generations to give a second look to Obama.
The stamp today is issue A74, a 5 centavo stamp issued by the republic of Ecuador in 1911. It displays past President Jose Maria Urvina. It was part of a long series of past president stamps that were issued by Ecuador in the first quarter of the 20th century. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
The Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere revolted against Spain at the time Spain was invaded by Napoleon who put his brother on the Spanish throne. There was a lot of resentment from natives of the privileged position of Peninsulars in the colonies. The Peninsulars were those that could directly trace their lineage to Spain. This anger was then harnessed to fuel rebellions against a weakened and distracted Spain. Ironically the leaders of the rebellion were not from the masses but themselves from an elite.
The rebellions were imagined to end in a large powerful country that would be free of Spain and could benefit from its own output. The results were somewhat different, Region after region broke away from a corrupt Gran Columbia after the death of revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar. Among the breakaway regions was Ecuador.
Ecuador itself was far from a united place. There were liberal minded intellectuals and businessmen from Guayaquil and a much more conservative group that was mainly in Quito. The divisions saw many changes in power and with an aggressive Peru to the south there was much tumult.
Jose Maria Urvina was president for 5 years in the 1850s. He was from the more liberal group in Ecuador. He was a military man who was put in power by a coup. He had one great accomplishment in ending the practice of slavery. Slavery in Ecuador was mainly an issue among the majority indian/native population. As the 1850s went along more conservative areas began to pay less attention to the central government and by the end of the decade some local strongmen were pledging allegiance to Peru.
I mentioned earlier how much of a blank slate these portraits become over time. A later ex president stamp issue by Ecuador changes the spelling of his name. It seems his son was a prominent banker who changed his spelling probably so not to have his politics assumed. With such a blank slate this was then retroactively transferred to the father.
Well my drink is empty so I will open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.