Bain was one of the engravers working for Waterlow & Sons. In the Waterlow records he appears simply as ‘Bain’ but research by Kathleen Wunderly of Linn’s has shown that this must have been James Bain, who was fifty around the time of the issue of the 1894 North Borneo definitives. James Bain is listed in the 1871 to 1911 decennial censuses of the United Kingdom as an engraver.
Bain had engraved a number of frames and vignettes for that 1894 set. His vignettes for the 2c, 3c, 5c, 12c, 18c and 24c would also be used on 1897 set, but in new frames not credited to Bain. The 1894 North Borneo stamps would also be issued in Labuan. The existing frame dies were used, some of which by Bain (2c, 3c and 18c), but all the vignette dies were changed to include the country name LABUAN. Although not all original vignettes were engraved by Bain, the new dies incorporating the word Labuan were all from his hand.
You will find James Bain's database HERE.
You will find James Bain's database HERE.