100 Years of "La Semeuse"

A Presentation to The Society by Ashley Lawrence

20 February 2003

Introduction | Chronology and Postal Usage 1 | Chronology and Postal Usage 2 | Chronology and Postal Usage 3 | Chronology and Postal Usage 4

La Semeuse, the Sower, first appeared on French stamps in April 1903. This graceful figure, wearing the Phrygian cap of liberty, sowing ideas at sunrise, came to symbolise Republican France throughout much of the 20th century.

This display celebrates her centenary.

Introduction

La Semeuse, the Sower, first appeared on French stamps in April 1903. This graceful figure, wearing the Phrygian cap of liberty, sowing ideas at sunrise, came to symbolise Republican France throughout much of the 20th century. This display celebrates her centenary.

Frame 1 The Early Years
The newly designed stamps of 1900. Louis Oscar Roty (1846-1911), designer of the Sower ; Louis-Eugène Mouchon, engraver (1843-1914) ; Charlotte Ragot, model. Roty's original sketch, and design for a medallion. The Sower's first appearance on coins, 1897-98. The politicians'decision to replace Type Mouchon with Type Semeuse. Engraving dies, making essays and proofs.

Frame 2 The First Lined Sowers, 1903
Postal usage of the new issue of Sowers. The three Types of the 10c. Rose. The six Types of the 15c. Green. First day cover, 2nd April, 1903. Varieties ; stamps produced for booklets, and issued in coils for use in vending machines. Use of Grande Consommation (GC) paper as wartime economy measure. Franchise Militaire (F.M.) overprinted stamps for use by the armed forces.

Frame 3 The First Lined Sowers continued
Type VI of the 15c. Lined Sower, "the rarest French definitive". Pre- cancel and other overprints. The 20c. Brown-Lilac, the 25c. Blue and 30c. Lilac issues, 1903. Examples of imperforate issues. Millésimes. 45c. Lilac, 50c. Blue and Red Sowers. Paper types. Booklet stamps.

Frame 4 Later Lined Sowers
50c. Red continued. B.I.T. Congress overprint of 1930 ; Le Philopode and other booklets ; coils. 50c. Turquoise. The 55c./ 60c. surcharged stamps used by Grands Magasins du Louvre, 1926. Colour trials for the 65c. Rose. Types I and II of the 75c. Lilac-Rose.

Frame 5 The Cameo Sowers
Dated corner block curiosities of the 1c. Bistre and the 2c. Dark Green Cameo Sowers. 5c. Green issued in 1907 : varieties ; 5c. Bistre ; Portes-timbres ; the first Sower Booklet stamps. The 5c. Orange, 1921. The 5c. Rose, 1934.

Frame 6 The 10c. Red Sower
The 10c. Red Sower on Ground, introduced in 1906 to mark the reduction of the internal letter rate. Replaced in turn by the 10c. Red Chiffres Maigres in 1906, and by the 10c. Red Chiffres Grasses in 1907. Varieties and shades, including the Scarlet issue of November 1907. Imperforate issues, booklets and coil stamps. First scheduled flight cover from Nancy to Lunéville, 1912. Use of GC paper, 1916.

Frame 7 The 10c. Sower continued
Portes-timbres used for advertising and propaganda. Aiglon porte-timbre booklet. The 1919 booklet. The Turin forgery, 1909. F.M.overprints. The Red Cross stamps of 1914, and Red Cross Booklet issued in 1915.

The 10c. Green Sower, first to be printed by Rotary Press, 1922. Annulé booklet of 1923 ; Minéraline and Phéna booklets of chiffres maigres stamps of 1926-27.

Frame 8 The Cameo Sowers continued
Type III variety of the 10c. Green Sower. The 10c. Blue Sower, 1932. Types of 15c. Brown-Lilac. "Le Philopode" booklet, 1928. Pre-cancelled and coil stamps. 20c. Lilac-Brown Sower, 1907. 20c. Lilac-Rose Sower, Types III and V se-tenant.

The Turin Forgery

Frame 9 The Cameo Sowers continued
The 25c. Blue Sower, 1907-27. Types and Varieties. The 1913 forgery. Timbres-monnaies. Booklet stamps, overprints, rotary coils.

Frame 10 The Cameo Sowers continued
The 25c. Blue Marseilles forgery. The 25c. Yellow-Brown Sower, 1927-38. Types of the 30c. Cameo Sower ; booklets, overprints. The 35c. Violet Sower 1906, chiffres maigres. The 35c. Violet Sower of 1907-26, chiffres grasses, Types I and II, and overprints. The 30c./ 35c. Green overprint, 1941.

Frame 11 Cameo Sowers and Postal Stationery
Types of the 40c. Cameo Sower. Envelopes, letter-cards, newspaper wrappers and other forms of postal stationery. Privately printed envelopes. Pneumatic postal stationery. The 1Fr.20 postcard introduced for liberated France in 1944.

Frame 12 Sower Miscellany
Contemporary postcards of the Sower design. The Haegelin trial printing for rotary presses, 1913. Franchise Militaire cards, 1914-18. Les Timbres-Monnaies, Timbres- Jetons, circa 1920. The Strasbourg Exhibition stamps, 1927. The Sinking Funds, 1927-31. La Semeuse re-engraved by Jules Piel, 1960. Journée du Timbre, 1996. "Farewell to the Franc, Welcome the Euro, 2002".