FOCUS ON PHILATELY: Ukraine-Estonia issue wins top prize (10/03/04)

FOCUS ON PHILATELY

by Ingert Kuzych

Ukraine-Estonia issue wins top prize

An unusual joint issue showing the medieval "Route From the Varangians to the Greeks" won the prestigious Heorhiy Narbut Prize as the best-designed Ukrainian stamp of 2003. The two stamps, vertically se-tenant with an interspaced label (Figure 1), depict the eastern European trading route that once ran between two countries that last year cooperated to produce the joint issue: Estonia and Ukraine.

The "Route," which began along the shores of the Baltic Sea, was used by the peoples better known to most as the Vikings (those of eastern Europe, however, are referred to as the Varangians). During a period of several hundred years (9th to 11th centuries) they traveled up and down the riverine arteries of Eastern Europe carrying furs, timber, grain, amber, honey, wax and slaves southward in exchange for silver, silks, spices and other riches from the final destination of the "Route," fabled Constantinople (capital of the "Greeks," i.e., the Byzantine Empire).

About the joint issue

The Ukrainian issue turned out to be the most elaborate prepared by Ukraine Post last year. The stamps were printed in a special pane format, as well as in a special four-page presentation booklet. The pane (Figure 2) contained three stamp-label-stamp se-tenant combinations in the center and three more examples of each of the two stamps along the upper and lower portions. All 12 stamps making up the pane are surrounded by a decorated border showing some of the items carried on the trade route (jewelry, metal ingots, weapons and decorative goods).

The se-tenant combination itself illustrates the route that was followed: beginning near the suburbs of modern-day Stockholm, passing through the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland, then through rivers passing into or out of Lakes Ladoga and Ilmen to the great Dnipro River, which runs to the Black Sea and then ultimately to Byzantium.

The upper (80 sotyky) stamp represents the area of departure for the "Route." On the left, overlaying the map background on the stamp design, is a gold coin of the Danish King Svend Estridsen (1047-1075); on the right is an English miniature "Landing of the Scandinavian Seamen" dating to the 12th century. This design was prepared by Jaan Saar of Estonia.

The map on the lower stamp (also 80 sotyky) shows a simplified view of Constantinople, the final goal of the "Route." The silver coin on the left is that of Grand Prince Volodymyr of Rus' (medieval Ukraine), who ruled from 980 to 1015. The ship on the right is an ancient Slav military craft copied from a manuscript of the Middle Ages. This design was the work of Oksana Ternavska of Ukraine. Both artists will receive equal shares of the $250 Narbut Prize honorarium.

Ms. Ternavska also designed the pages of the presentation booklet (Figure 3), only 7,000 of which were prepared. Each of the four leaves of the booklet is beautifully planned. The first describes the "Route of the Varangians to the Greeks" in both Ukrainian (front) and English (back). The other three leaves are all gummed and contain respectively: the se-tenant stamps (Figure 4), a single of the "Estonian" stamp (Figure 5), and a single of the "Ukrainian" stamp (Figure 6). Each of these three leaves is decorated with elaborate designwork.

Other top vote-getters

A record number of votes were received for the Narbut Prize balloting this year. The "Route" stamps were selected by almost 16 percent of the participants in the voting. Second place went to the "Holodomor" stamp (Figure 7) with just under 10 percent. "Holodomor" is the Ukrainian word used to describe the terror-famine imposed on the Ukrainian populace in 1932-1933 by Soviet authorities seeking to destroy Ukrainian nationalism. An estimated 7 million to 10 million people were condemned to a slow execution in this, one of the most ghastly genocides of the 20th century.

Tied for second place was the "History of the Ukrainian Army" issue, which last year depicted warfare involving the ancient Slavs (Figure 8).

The fourth-place selection fell to the last stamps of the "Hetmans of Ukraine" series (9 percent), which began in 1995 and has honored several hetmans every year since (Figure 9). The hetmans were Kozak leaders of the 15th to the 18th centuries. Last year's stamps honored Kyrylo Rozumovsky (r. 1750-1764) and Ivan Skoropadsky (r. 1708-1722 ).

Falling to fifth place in the voting were the "Ukrainian Folk Costumes" stamps, which garnered 8 percent of the ballots (Figure 10). The costumes series had come in first in 2003.

The wide variety of subjects depicted on Ukraine's 2003 stamps was reflected in the balloting for this year's Narbut Prize for best stamp design. Almost every one of last year's stamps or souvenir sheets appealed to someone and subsequently received some votes. However, as the August 15 deadline approached, it became clear that the "Route" issue would win handily.

The Narbut Prize is sponsored by the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society (UPNS) based in the United States and continues to be recognized as the premier philatelic art award in Ukraine. Past winning designs and their artist creators have all been prominently featured in Filatelia Ukrainy, Ukraine's leading philatelic periodical.

The Heorhiy Narbut Prize honors Ukraine's outstanding graphic artist of the early 20th century. Mr. Narbut prepared the three high-value stamps (30, 40 and 50 shahy) from Ukraine's first postage stamp issue of 1918. He also designed about a dozen of Ukraine's first banknotes.

Readers wishing to examine all of last year's stamps (or the issues from any year) in full color, may do so online at the Ukrainian Electronic Stamp Album, (www.ukrainianphilately.info). Click on 2003 or on any other year's issues you may wish to check out. Past Narbut Prize winners as well as runners-up may be viewed on the website of the UPNS, www.upns.org.

A list of past winners

The Narbut Prize has been awarded annually since 1993 for the best-designed stamp of the previous year (Ukraine resumed stamp production only in 1992). The award was established by Dr. Ingert Kuzych, well-known philatelic author, editor, and exhibitor who currently serves as the society's president. Below are the winners of the Narbut Prize since its inception. The 2004 favorite broke a trend that had seen a souvenir sheet emerge as the winner for six years in a row.

1993A - Larysa Koren, "150th Anniversary of the Birth of Composer Mykola Lysenko."

1993B - Oleh Snarsky, "National Flag and Trident Emblem of Ukraine" (Note: there was a tie in voting in 1993).

1994 - Yuriy Lohvyn, "75th Anniversary of Ukraine's First Postage Stamps."

1995 - Serhiy Bieliaiev, "160th Anniversary of Kyiv University."

1996 - Yuriy Lohvyn, "Hetmans of Ukraine" series.

1997 - Serhiy Bieliaiev, "150th Anniversary of the Kyiv University Astronomical Observatory" (stamp triptych).

1998 - V. Taran and O. Kharuk, "The Founding of Kyiv" (Europa souvenir sheet).

1999 - V. Taran, O. Kharuk, S. Kharuk and V. Kozachenko. "350th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Ukrainian Struggle for Freedom Under Bohdan Khmelnytsky" (souvenir sheet).

2000 - Oleksiy Shtanko, "Yaroslav the Wise" (souvenir sheet).

2001 - Kateryna Shtanko, "Wildflowers of Ukraine" (souvenir sheet).

2002 - Oleksiy Shtanko, "King Danylo" (souvenir sheet).

2003 - Mykola Kochubei, "Ukrainian Folk Costumes" (stamps and souvenir sheet).

2004 - Jaan Saar and Oksana Ternavska, "Route From the Varangians to the Greeks" (Ukraine-Estonia joint issue).

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