Western Samoa Pictorial Stamps - 1935

WESTERN SAMOA on 7 August 1935 issued a set of 10 First Day Cover "Pictorial" stamps of Western Samoa. 

Western Samoa ministered by New Zealand Mandate from the League of Nations. The two principal inlands of this section of the Group. Upolu and Sevali'i, have bold rugged scenery and are among the most luxuriant in the South Pacific. Consequently, the New Zealand Administration, in deciding that Samoa should be provided with a complete stamp issue, was able to draw upon attractive resources for pictorial subjects. 

The Samoan Pictorial stamps constitute a miniature view-book of the Territory, for they include reproductions of some of its most distinctive features, and portray the Samoan in traditional dress and appropriate surroundings. The engravings have been so carefully done that the subjects they represent will be readily rocognised by those familiar with Samoan scenes, though even the use of two colours in printing has not made it possible to present the pictures in the glowing and vivid colouration of the tropical originals.

The selected design for the 1/2d, denomination was drawn by Mr. L. C. Mitchell, Wellington: the 2 1/2d. design was the joint work of Messrs. Mitchell and J. Berry, Wellington; the 6d. was drawn by Mr. W. J. Cooch. Wellington, and the remaining designs were those of Mr. J. Berry. They have boom printed by Messrs. De la Rue and Co. London, by the intaglio process, on "N.Z Star" watermark paper.

 

THE STAMPS

A Samoan girl in Samoan dress is shown seated on a woven mat with a large kava bowl between her knees, dispensing this popular and ceremonial beverage from a cup made of the shell of the coconut, polished black. She wears a garment of "tapa" cloth, with a Samoan "fine mat around her waist. Her necklace is of the much-prized shark's teeth, and behind her ears can be seen the attractive blooms of the hibiscus, greatly used for adornment. In the background is a scene characteristic of the coast an indentation of the sea flanked by the coconut ut palms, and in the distance a Samoan thatched house ("fale"), which is so admirably suited to the climate. Colour: Apple Green Denomination: 1d.

Apia is one of the most familiar views in Samoa along the beach to the west, with the mouth of the Vaisigano River in the foreground. This has been the scene of many historic happenings, for Apia has always been the seat of Government. The present Administration offices are midway along the beach. A small wooded peak behind distant coconut palma is Vara Hill, at the top of which lies buried the famous novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. Two lofty coconut trees, so characteristic a feature of the Samoan landscape, are prominent in the foreground of the picture, which also includes some Samoan figures in the lava-lava costume. This view, which has been engraved in fine detail, is bordered in the corners with a portion of the stencil designs used marking in tapa cloth, while the upright flanking features. on either side are representations of ancient Samoan wooden spears. landscape, Colours: Claret and Blue Black. Denomination: 2d. 

 

A beautiful tropical river scene, typical of many in Samoa, is reproduced repr aced in the centre panel of this is stamp. It is a placid-flowing stream winding its way through thick tropical forest, with stately coconut palm on the banks rearing their heads above the surrounding foliage. In the foreground a Samoan is paddling a small "paopao," "the common canon of the people. Colours: Spectrum Orange and Battleship Grey. Denomination: 2d.

A Samoan chief and his wife are represented in this stamp. They stand together in front of a Samoan house ("fale"), its side-screens ("pola") drawn up to secure cool conditions beneath the heavily thatched roof during the heat of the day. Both figures are dressed in lava-lava of tapa cloth, which is made by beating together pieces of the bark of a species of mulberry tree. Three Samoan fans are drawn in the upper corners of the borders, and on each side is an old Samoan chub. Colours: Lido Blue and Grey Shark. Denomination: 4d.

Prominent in the pictorial panel of this stamp is a Samoan deep-sea fishing canoe showing two fishermen paddling, and the long heavy rod used in catching the bonito. This type of canoe is usually called a "bonito canoe. A roll of nets is to be seen in the craft. The background is characteristic Samoan coastal scene, two pretty promontories with Samoan le") nestling among the coconut palms, ("fale") houses whose sharp outlines break the skyline. There is a particularly clear representation of a well-constructed "fale" in the middle distance.

Colours: Coffee and Blue Grey. Denomination: 6d.

"Vailima," built by Robert Louis Stevenson, is the subject chosen. s value. for this Here Stevenson spent the final years of his life, and en Vaen Hill, shown in the back-ground, up a steep forest track cut specially by the Samoans The Road of Loving Hearts" his body was carried to its last resting-place. Stevenson's home is now the official residence of the Administrator, and the engraving pictures it from an angle showing the right wing and central ntral portion of the building, which were were built in Stevenson's time. The porch over the entrance is a modern addition. The border, incorporating a design frequently woven into Samoan mats, is narrow so as to provide as large a picture of "Vailima" as possible. Colour Petunia. Denomination: 1s.

On the summit of Vaea Hill, surrounded by dense forest, is the tomb of Robert Louis Stevenson, which is shown in the centre of this denomination. The world-famous lines of the Requiem written by Stevenson are on the bronze plate depicted to the left: "Under the wide and starry sky. Dig the grave and let me lie Glad did I live and gladly die. And I laid me down with a will." This be the verse you grove for me. Here he lies where he longed to be. Home is the sailor, home from sea. And the hunter home from the hill. The plate shown in the front of the tomb commemorates Stevenson's wife, while another on the right not shown in the engraving is a Samoan inscription, a quotation from Ruth," Chapter 1. verses 16 and 17: "Whither thon goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; the people shall be my people, and thy God my God Where thon diest, will I die, and there will I be buried." Colours: Beech Brown and Violet. Denomination: 2s.

Samoa is of volcanic origin. Lake Lanute'o, illustrated in this stamp, is a small water-filled crater on one of the high peaks in the middle of the Island of Upolu. Dense forest is seen in the back ground, and the picture is partly framed by over-hanging fern-covered were trees, the borders reproducing the round poles with their sinnet binding used interior of Samoan houses. Colours: Purple Brown and Cossack Green. Denomination: 35.

One of the best-known beauty spots in Samoa, Falefa Falls, twelve miles ea east of Apia, is depicted in this value. A clear mountain stream rushes down over the falls in heavy volume, its waters divided by a large rock. The forest frames the scene, and the design for the borders is based upon that of the plain weaving of the commoner type of Samoan mat. The denomination is shown in white at the bottom corners on shields shaped like Samoan fans. Colours: Gold Brown and Mineral Blue. Denomination: