My stamps from a seller in Poland arrived today.
There were no Polish stamps on the outside (international registered mail is franked by machine), but the seller put some Polish stamps inside for me.
Issued 1969, Sept 4.
One of a set of 8, with a label inscribed with the painter’s name
Perf.11×11½ |Photogravure printing |No Watermark
1676 585 |40 grosz |Gold & multi-colored |”Hamlet” by Jacek Malczewski
[Source: Scott 2003 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue: Countries of the World, P-SI]
[From Wikipedia] “Polish Hamlet” was painted in 1903, and is one of the most famous works of Malczewski. It presents the grandson of Aleksander Wielopolski – Polish politician, a member of the Polish Kingdom government in the early 1860s, who tried to maneuver between the interests of the invaders and the Polish population – in the act of considering his grandfather’s legacy. The painting is symbolic and patriotic, it can be read in several ways. The women placed on both sides of the picture are an allegory of two different visions of the fate of their homeland. Located to the right is an elderly woman with white hair, dressed in dark robes, her hands cuffed by shackles, and her face takes on an expression of sadness, despair and awareness of their situation. She embodies Poland enslaved, experienced by fate, remaining under the yoke of others, and who can not be liberated. On the left side there is a young girl, half-naked, shown at the time of breaking the shackles. She is full of energy, and her face is very expressive. It symbolizes the “young Poland” – capable of action and being able to release from the long-term captivity.