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RHODESIA THROUGH ARTISTS’ EYES
Issued 20th July, 1977
This issue is described as “Artists of Rhodesia” by the Rhodesia Stamp Catalogue. This is an
incorrect description, this is not what the Post Office called the issue. Thomas Baines (24 cents)
died before the occupation of the country. It is unlikely that Alice Balfour (8c, 8c & 16c) would
have described herself as “Rhodesian”. Joan Evans is more contemporary and can be considered
as Rhodesian.
(Source: PTC Bulletin No 2 or 1977)
EVANS, Mrs. Joan Lois (1905- 1986)
3 cents: Lake Kyle scene,
4 cents: Chimanimani Mountains from Pork Pie Hill, Melsetter.
Typical style of Joan Evans
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, of English parents, Joan Evans has lived in Rhodesia for sixty-
four years and is now regarded as Rhodesia's foremost landscape artist. She attributes her talent
to her father, Colonel A. Essex Capell, a painter in his own right. During her early childhood
she travelled quite extensively as her father, being in Government service, was posted to Kenya
and then to Grenada in the West Indies. In 1913, he was transferred to Rhodesia as Assistant
Commissioner of the British South Africa Police and the family settled in Salisbury. Always
keen on drawing "since I was able to hold a pencil."
Joan matriculated in Art at the Girls High School, Salisbury, but apart from school she had no
formal art tuition. A versatile artist, Joan Evans has no media preference and can work equally
well in oils, water colours, pastels or pen and wash. Nor does she confine herself to landscapes
- flowers, seascapes and "moderns" are other favourite subjects which give her great pleasure
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to paint. Fifteen of her paintings hang in the Rhodesia Parliament and another three in
Government House while two have been purchased by the National Art Gallery in Salisbury.
She has held many "one-man" Exhibitions in Rhodesia and elsewhere and receives commissions
from many parts of the World.
Married to Walter Evans in 1930, they have three children—two sons and a daughter — and
eight grandchildren.
BALFOUR, Alice Blanche (1850-1936)
6 cents: Rocks near Bonsor Reef.
8 cents: A "dwala" near Devil's Pass.
16 cents: At Zimbabwe.
In camp near Fort Victoria
Mashonas near Kopje
Daughter of James Maitland Balfour of Whittingehame and his wife, Lady Blanche Cecil,
daughter of the 2nd Marquis of Salisbury, and a sister of Arthur James Balfour, who became
Prime Minister of Britain and later the 1st Earl of Balfour. In 1894 she toured South Africa and
Rhodesia in company with A. H. G. Grey and his wife (afterwards the 4th Earl and Countess
Grey) and H. Fitzwilliam.
The party arrived at Cape Town in April, 1894 and, after visiting Basutoland, Johannesburg and
Kimberley, made a tour of Matabeleland and Mashonaland, travelling by ox-wagon from the
railhead north of Mafeking to Bulawayo and from there through Fort Victoria, Salisbury and
Umtali to Beira. Here Miss Balfour and Fitzwilliam parted company with the Greys, and made
their return journey to England up the east coast of Africa.
In 1895 she published an account of her journey, entitled Twelve Hundred Miles in a Waggon
(Edward Arnold). Miss Balfour was a keen amateur artist. During her tour of Southern Africa
she made numerous sketches and water-colours.
Her obituary notice in the Times of 13 June, 1936, states that "she was so acutely conscious of
the gulf which divides the professional from the amateur, that she took little pleasure in her
water-colour drawings of animals and landscapes, which nevertheless had great delicacy and
accuracy".
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BAINES, John Thomas (1820-1875)
24 cents: Bird's Eye View of the Victoria Falls.
Baines and Chapman on the Zambezi above the Victoria Falls
Born at Kings' Lynn, Norfolk, on the 27th November, 1820, He Was educated at home and then
apprenticed to a coach-builder to learn the art of heraldic painting on carriage panels, but an
innate love of art soon led him to devote much of his leisure time to landscapes and other works.
In 1842 he left England for South Africa, he worked in Cape Town as a painter and artist and
in 1846 he began to travel to other regions of the Cape Colony. By 1853 he had made his name
as an artist and explorer.
Returning to England in 1834, Baines was appointed artist to the North-West Australian
Expedition under Augustus Gregory and so distinguished himself, that on his return he was
given the freedom of the Borough of Kings' Lynn. He returned to South Africa in 1860 and in
1862 he journeyed with his friend, Thomas Chapman, from the South-West Africa coast to the
Victoria Falls on the Zambesi River.
He spent several weeks at the Victoria Falls, making drawings and measurements and
subsequently published a folio volume of coloured lithographs of the Falls. Baines spent the
years 1864-68 in England, lecturing, Writing and drawing illustrations for various periodicals.
Towards the end of 1868 he returned to Africa under agreement with company to prospect for
gold in Mashonaland. Becoming friendly with Lobengula, supreme chief of the Matabele
Nation, he was granted the first mineral concession but unfortunately, he was never to exploit
it. He died of dysentery in Durban on the 8th May, 1875, leaving behind a wealth of pictures
and diaries.
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THE ISSUED STAMPS
Catalogue listings
SG RSC2 Value Description
543 C167 3c Lake Kyle scene – Joan Evans
a. “Red mark on hill under tree” (Cyl 1B 5/5)
544 C168 4c Chimanimani Mountains – Joan Evans
545 C169 6c Rocks near Bonsor Reef – Alice Balfour
a. “Blue stone on rock” (Cyl 1A R8/3)
546 C170 8c A ‘Dwala’ near Devil’s Pass – Alice Balfour
a. “Red mark on hill” (Cyl 1A R4/1)
b. “Black ‘tyre’ at side of road” (Cyl 1A R10/5)
547 C171 16c At Zimbabwe – Alice Balfour
548 C172 24c Victoria Falls – Thomas Baines
a. “Red dot on ‘4’ of 24” (Cyl 1B R5/3)
Technical details
Stamp size: 42 x 28 mm
Sheet Size: 50 stamps (10 rows of 5 stamps), two panes within printed sheet
Artist: Joan Evans, Alice Balfour & Thomas Baines
Paper: Type 13– white fluorescent paper, gum with greenish tinge, slightly
sheen
Print colours: All values – cyan, yellow, magenta & black
Perforations: Comb perf: SG 14, RSC 14¼
Top margin: Perforated through
Side and bottom margins: Imperforate
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Printer’s Imprint: Type 6a, bottom margin, below columns 2 to 4 – black printing
Cylinder numbers: Cyls. 1A & 1B bottom margin under R10/1, colours reading across
from left - cyan, yellow, magenta, black (all values)
Colour register: Type TL 4 – round boxed - left margin opposite R10/1, colours
reading down - cyan, yellow, magenta, black (all values)
Sheet Value: Bottom margin, below R10/5, black printing
Sheet Number: Type SN 4 with ‘PTC’ prefix, right margin opposite R10/5, reading
downwards.
Print numbers: 3c - 2,050,000 stamps (20,500 1A & 1B sheets each
4c - 4,050,000 stamps (40,500 1A & 1B sheets each)
6c - 850,000 stamps (8,500 1A & 1B sheets each)
8c - 650,000 stamps (6,500 1A & 1B sheets each)
16c - 450,000 stamps (4,500 1A & 1B sheets each)
24c - 400,000 stamps (4,000 1A & 1B sheets each)
Issue date: 20th July, 1977
Withdrawal from sale: 20th April, 1978
Demonetarisation: 17th April, 1978
Listed varieties
Below are varieties documented or seen for each of the values, starting with the listed varieties
within the Mashonaland Guide1, and those listed in the RSC2, shown in yellow shaded tables. The
varieties listed in bold are considered by the authors of the Guide to be more important.
In studying this issue under magnification, a vast range of other dots and specks will be noted.
Some of these varieties are constant whilst others will be batch flaws. The varieties listed by the
Mashonaland Guide are not necessarily the most spectacular of these dots and specks, but are
never-the-less the ones illustrated below.
There are also many examples of a double printing of the black ink, this is particularly noted with
the text on the stamp. Most are fairly minor movements or doubling of the text and are not worth
listing here, but should be noted by collectors. The more dramatic are illustrated below.
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Cyl Row Col
3 cents – Lake Kyle 1A
3 4
Red spot in lake near shore, in addition
there is a cyan dot in the like.
(The combination of magenta and cyan
dots can be seen in other positions. May
be multipositive)
7 3 Dot over ‘E’ of Rhodesia
8 2 Dot over red tree
1B
1 1 Batch flaw - Pink spot under hill at left
1 4 Blue dash in top margin over ‘R’ of
Rhodesia
2 5 Batch flaw - White oblique dash before
‘3’
5 5
Red mark under lower left branch of
red tree.
RSC C167
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Cyl Row Col
7 2 Two small dots above left of red tree
4 cents – Chimanimani
Mountains Batch flaws – pink, cyan and white blobs on mountains
1A
9 4
Batch flaw - pink blob on pink hill above
road
(This pink spot on the hills has been
noted in other positions. May be
multipositive)
1B
6 5 Orange blob on road above shadow
6 cents – Rocks near Bonsor Reef 1A
1 3 Red dot under ‘ge’ of Postage
3 2 Black dot below hill under ‘P’ of Postage
8 3
Blue mark on rock right of and below
tree trunk
RSC C169a – Blue stone on rock
9 1 Dot under green branch left of Postage
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Cyl Row Col
8 cents - A dwala near Devil's Pass 1A
1 4 Red dash above ‘a’ of Rhodesia
4 1
Red dot on side of hill below left-hand
branches
RSC C170a – Red mark on hill
5 3 Dot over centre of rock
7 1 Smudge over left ‘H’ of Rhodesia
9 4 Small red dot over ‘D’ of Rhodesia
10 5
Small black circle above roadside left
of tall tree
RSC C170b – Black ‘tyre’ at side of
road
1B 1 3 Pale area in upright of ‘A’ of Rhodesia (batch flaw)
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Cyl Row Col
3 5 "Extra red leaves" to right of upper right-
hand branches
4 4 "Stone rolling downhill" under the tree
branches
4 5 Blue spot at right of tree-top
8 4 Small dot above ‘A’ of Rhodesia
16 cents - At Zimbabwe 1A
2 4 Black spot above ‘A’ of Rhodesia
3 1 Small red spot above ‘H’ of Rhodesia
3 2 Dot on tuft of grass in front of wall at
right
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Cyl Row Col
4 4 Blue spot above ridge
8 1 Red dot over ‘R’ of Rhodesia
10 4 Two dots, to left of and above euphorbia
1B 2 1 Small black spot to right of euphorbia
3 3 Small red dot at top of design over ‘E’ of
Rhodesia
4 1 Small dot right of upright of ‘H’ of
Rhodesia
6 2 Small black dot right of ‘A’ of Rhodesia
8 1 Dark mark at top of design at right
9 1 Smudgy printing of Rhodesia – ‘E’ sometimes closed. (batch flaw)
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Cyl Row Col
24 cents - Bird's-eye view of Victoria Falls 1A
6 2 Dot over ‘c’ of value
7 1 Batch flaw - red dot after ‘A’ of Rhodesia
7 3 Red dot below ‘D’ of Rhodesia
8 1 White scratch on ‘O’ of Rhodesia and
dot under ‘D’
9 4 Blue vertical dash on bank of river at left
1B
3 4 Dot after ‘2’ of value
5 3
Red spur on tail of ‘4’
RSC C172a. – Red dot on ‘4’ of 24
7 4 Dot over ‘O’ of Rhodesia
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Cyl Row Col
8 2 Small dot below top margin over ‘O’ of
Rhodesia
9 5 Red dash at top over ‘SI’ of Rhodesia
Unlisted varieties
4 cents
Blue
scratch
from
‘Postage’
to trees
(column 4)
4 Cents
White dot in hills by tree to left. Probably a small
spot of water on the cyan plate which stopped ink
transfer to paper
6 cents
Double black. Strip below showing
progressive doubling from right to left.
Stamp in column 1 opposite
8 cents
A number of stamps have been seen with
what appears to be green bush in the
otherwise brownish landscape. Caused by
water on magenta plate following
application of cyan and yellow
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Double black printing to far left stamp in strip of three
(Courtesy Dave Trathen)
First Day Cover
The cover numbering comes from the catalogue produced by Geoff Brakspear
Cover 70.1 PTC
193 x 127 mm
Related material
Presentation card with PTC logo and
name in gold, with set of issued stamps.
(Source: rhodesia.co.za)
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The National Archives of Rhodesia produced a set of six postcard size colour reproductions of
water colours by Alice Balfour in 1894. Note that whilst these cards are postcard size they have
not been printed as postcards. Three of the cards produced included the three Alice Balfour
stamps in the Rhodesia through artists’ eyes issue. The description below each card is as printed
on the back of the card
Group of granite rocks about two miles S. W. of
Bonsor Reef, on the track from Bulawayo,
Longwe hills in the distance, July 15, 1894
Between Salisbury and Umtali, about four miles west of the
Devil’s Pass, August 24, 1894
At Zimbabwe, July 29, 1894. A drystone
granite wall is part of one comparatively ill-
built small ruins. The “Great Zimbabwe”, or
Temple, is farther to the right.
The Limpopo or Crocodile River a few hundred yards below
its junction with the Marico river, June 12, 1894
Veldt about six miles south of Fort Charter,
August 6, 1894
Tati River, June 27, 1894
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Postcards featuring Joan Evans’ paintings
Series of postcards probably published before 1965 (cards refer to S Rhodesia), possibly published
and/or printed by C.T.Ltd.
Upper reaches of Maleme Dam, Bulawayo
In the Mazoe Valley, S Rhodesia
A scene in a Rhodesian Native Reserve
Evening on a Rhodesian river
Spring colours on the Rhodesian sandveld
The mountain road to Troutbeck, Inyanga, S Rhodesia
Bibliography
1. “A Guide to the Postage Stamps of Rhodesia”, supplement No 5, issued 1978, published by the Mashonaland
Philatelic Study Group
2. “The Rhodesia Stamp Catalogue”, 1983/84, published by Salisbury Stamp Company
3. Post & Telecommunications Corporation Bulletin No 2 of 1977, published by the Philatelic Bureau