The "svolazzo" cancellations

By analyzing pieces of Naples you can find by sure some stamps cancelled in a kind of strange way, with a label written in a curve and with characters different from the usual ones: they are the so called "flourish" (in Italian language "svolazzo") cancellations, from the Italian name given to them by the expert Enzo Vitozzi in a 1916 published work.
Once again I am "forced" to open a window on something not really related to the stamps but to a not essential characteristic, in this case the type of cancellation.
These types of cancellations do have a primary importance in the Naples stamps collections; therefore at least a short mention is due.

The stamps of Naples were generally cancelled with a rectangular framed cancellation (in italian language "in cartella") carrying in the center the label "ANNULLATO" (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: the cancellation "ANNULLATO" in frame

This kind of cancellation allowed often the reuse of the stamps with the complicity of some Postal Officer who was canceling again the stamps by overlapping a new cancellation to the existing one.
The Postal Administration, when aware of this misuse, to solve the problem invented a very original system.
In 1860 an engraver, his name was Luigi Porta, was given the responsibility to make cancellations in different shapes and characters. He caught the essence of the sentence "Ducati 1,50 per ogni bollo, i quali esser dovendo 154, quante sono le Officine di posta speditrici, importano la spesa di Ducati 231" that sounds like "1.5 Ducati for each stamps, those being 154 as many as the Offices that send mail, carry the expense of 231 Ducati" and implemented 154 cancellations in total, divided in 36 types of different shapes and characters. In that way by distributing the cancellations to different locations it was practically impossible to reuse the stamps in different Postal Offices because the cancellations cannot be overlapped and therefore revealing the cheating.
From August 1860 the new cancellations were in use.
We know that these cancellations were used as long as until mid 1861 and therefore we can find them in the stamps of the Neapolitan Provinces too (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: the type 24 "flourish" used on the Neapolitan Provinces

The "svolazzi" are always interesting and some usage is very rare and in great demand.
I show here below all the flourish cancellations by specifying the locations where they have been used. You should note that the same cancellations distributed in different locations differ from some small detail of the letters; so even the reproductions here showed may differ from the real cancellations by some small detail.
Finally I inserted the recurrent Java applet through which is possible to visualize single pieces with partial flourish followed by some couple or fragment with the complete cancellation (Fig. 3 to 8).
I will really appreciate the availability of pictures from collectors to complete the missing images.

THE TYPES OF "SVOLAZZO"

Type 1 Gioja (used also nbr. 28), Piedimonte, Popoli, Rosarno	Type 2 Barletta, Paola, Sora	Type 3 Lecce, Pozzuoli, Torre del Greco
Type 4 Avellino, Gallipoli, Montesarchio, Vallo	Type 5 Città Ducale, Cosenza, Cropani, S. Severino	Type 6 Arce, Arienzo, Postiglione, Prignano
Type 7 Bisceglie, Mignano, Reggio, Salvia	Type 8 Brindisi, Campi, Castrovillari, Larino	Type 9 Chieti. Lanciano, Manduria, Morano
Type 10 Morcone, Ostuni, Rogliano, Venafro	Type 11 Aversa, Casal San Michele, Civitella del Tronto, S. Maria, Sessa	Type 12 Caserta, Cerignola, Giulia, Melfi, Spezzano Albnese, Tricarico
Type 13 Altamura, Ischia, Lauria, Taranto	Type 14 Arpino, Campagna, Isola, Polla	Type 15 Avezzano, Casoli, Giovinazzo, Sala
Type 16 Eboli, Foggia, Maddaloni, Nocera, Sepino	Type 17 Casalnuovo, Dentecane, Portici, Potenza	Type 18 Carpenzano, Città S. Angelo, Gerace (used also nbr. 22), Grottaminarda, Lagonegro
Type 19 Auletta, Matera, Nicastro, Nola, Teramo	Type 20 Antrodoco, Atri, Maglie, Penne	Type 21 Catanzaro, Gravina, Mola di Gaeta, Roccasecca, Tropea
Type 22 Castel di Sangro, Gerace (used also nbr. 18), S. Angelo dei Lombardi, Vasto, Venosa	Type 23 Carpi, Gaeta, Tagliacozzo (used also nbr. 37), Trani	Type 24 Canosa, Cava, Chiaromonte
Type 25 Fasano, Fondi, Vietri (di Potenza), Vietri (di Salerno)	Type 26 Manfredonia, Molfetta, Monteparano, Pescara, Tiriolo	Type 27 Casoria, Crotone, Salerno
Type 28 Capua, Cardinale, Isernia, Gioja (used also nbr. 1)	Type 29 Agnone, Ariano, Monteleone, Rotonda	Type 30 Mola di Bari, Rossano, Solmona
Type 31 Bovino, Roccagloriosa, S. Germano, Villa S. Giovanni	Type 32 Aquila, Atessa, Campobasso, Palmi	Type 33 Cantalupo, Otranto, Pizzo, S. Severo
Type 34 Casamassima, Marigliano, Mesagne, Scilla	Type 35 Castellamare, Castelluccio, Ferrandina, Pontelandolfo, Roccaraso	Type 36 Bari, Civitacampomarano, Lucera, Massafra, Monopoli
Type 37 Benevento, Tagliacozzo (used also nbr. 23)

Visualize the partial cancellations

Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 8 Type 9 Type 11 Type 12 Type 13 Type 16 Type 18 Type 19 Type 21 Type 24 Type 26 Type 27 Type 29 Type 30 Type 31 Type 32 Type 35 Type 36

Fig. 3: "svolazzo" nbr. 9

Fig. 4: "svolazzo" nbr. 13

Fig. 5: "svolazzo" nbr. 16

Fig. 6: "svolazzo" nbr. 25

Fig. 7: "svolazzo" nbr. 26



Fig. 8: "svolazzo" nbr. 29