William Humphrys
(1794-1865) may have had a rather short career as a stamp engraver, not even lasting
a decade, but in those few years he managed to create a number of stamps which
are still regarded as among the finest issued in the British Empire.
One of those engravings was a portrait of President George Washington. Originally meant for banknote production, the printers Rawdon, Wright & Hatch, who owned the master die, used it for the 1845 New York Postmaster Provisional stamp as well. On a stock certificate of the Ohio & Missouri Mining Co, the full engraving, rather than the cropped versions used on banknotes and stamps, can be seen.
This postmaster’s
provisional therefore unintentionally became Humphrys’ first stamp engraving,
but it would be a long time before his proper philatelic career would take off.
In the meantime, after the death of his teacher Murray, Humphrys lived in alternately
in England and the US for some two decades before finally settling in London in
1845. There, he came to work for Perkins Bacon, where he became known as the 'American engraver'.
A good number of
engravings by Humphrys featured around the famous Chalon portrait of Queen
Victoria. The first of these appeared in 1853, being a Nova Scotia definitive.
Humphry’s Chalon head also appeared on definitives issued in Van Diemen’s Land
(subsequently named Tasmania) and Queensland.
Although New
Zealand had set their sights on John Carmichael from New South Wales to engrave
their first definitives, that plan fell through because Carmichael was engaged
in work for New South Wales and instead it was Humphrys who engraved the Chalon
portrait for the country's first definitives of 1855. The work Humphrys was
doing for New South Wales was an engraving for their 1854 definitives, which
has since become known as the Garter Type definitive. It is often regarded as
the best example of his craftsmanship.
As late as 1940,
philatelists could enjoy yet another of Humphrys’ Chalon head portraits, when
his engraving of a larger part of the original painting featured on a souvenir
sheet issued for the Stamp Centenary Exhibition in London.
But it was not just
the Chalon heads which featured in Humphrys’ portfolio. There are many other
iconic stamps to be found. In fact, one of his first stamp engravings for
Perkins Bacon was the triangular-sized allegory of Hope, on Cape of Good Hope’s
first stamp issue of 1853. It was followed by the aforementioned New South
Wales issue of 1854, and the equally well-known Black Swan design of the first
stamp issue of Western Australia.
The original
portrait of Queen Victoria, engraved by Frederick Heath, had been used for all
British stamps ever since 1840. After time, it was found that the features
became more and more indistinct. It was therefore decided in 1854 to deepen the
lines in the die, which would result in sharper impressions, and Humphrys was
asked to perform this job. The authorities did not want to tamper with the
original die, so a new die was laid out which Humphrys could work on. The
retouched die would be used on all British definitives (apart from the
halfpenny of course) until the end of Queen Victoria’s reign.
Humphrys succeeded
remarkably well in retouching the portrait in such a way that at first sight no
differences would be perceived. More detailed study does show up differences of
course, mainly in the shading of the eyelid, the curve of the nostril and in
the shading of the band round the hair behind the ear.
During the last few
years of Humphrys’ career, he created several profile heads of Queen Victoria.
The first one appeared on South Australia’s first stamp issue of 1855. But he
improved on himself in the following year by creating St Helena first issue,
which was thought to be much clearer. Topping even that, Humphrys went on to
engrave Ceylon’s first ever issue. Victoria’s portrait on this stamp resembled
the St Helena version, but is generally thought to be much more elegant.
The demise of
Perkins Bacon in the late 1850s, early 1860s, also heralded the end of Humphrys’
career as a stamp engraver. He did find new employment, as an accountant, but
would pass away within a couple of years.