"PLATTARE":
is a rather "poor" Italian word and perhaps not known by
not specialized collectors.
In simple word it means to identify the exact position in a sheet of a specific
stamp; for instance in a sheet of "X" samples it means to understand
that the part in my hands was originally in position 27 instead of 36, or
88, of the whole sheet.
From that it comes down the possibility to successfully reconstruct a whole
printing plate and to observe the minimal differences between single stamps.
This job is complex and not always possible for all the stamps.
Between the stamps studied for this purpose are the Sicily stamps, because
for Sicily this job is relatively (!) less complex than for the other States.
In fact the stereotypes duplication of the Sicily stamps was rather gross
to the point that during the process the new elements produced were different
form each other for small details and sometimes it was necessary to proceed
to correct directly some stereotypes before the printing itself (the subject
of the interventions or corrections made is described in another "Going
deep").
Therefore by examining with infinite patience, sometimes in maniac way, each
stamp it is possible to discover small details typical of the single position.
Color remainders, defects on the borders, in the labels, color dots, tool
marks, printing holes etc. are the useful elements to identify the position
of a specific piece.
This job starts from the assumption to have available a huge quantity of pieces,
possibly already with known localization as reference and possibly with the
whole plate reproduction.
But even with a lot of material available it is not often so easy to determine
the exact position of a stamp, a margin badly cut, an "evil"
cancellation (and they are always "evil" by falling always
in the wrong positions!) can hide exactly the detail that is needed for the
study. Only a good eye and a lot of patience may help in this extreme specialization
that offers anyway a lot of satisfaction when successful.
In the following schemes I gave the representation of all the pieces of the
3rd plate of the 2 Grana.
For some of them I put in evidence some of the characteristic details of that
position that I was able to find out, for others it was not possible. Enjoy
yourself!!!
It necessary to outline several things: first of all the single element in
discussion may be single as well as common even to several pieces, but a combination
of two or more elements sets in definitive way the position of a piece; moreover
we must be very careful with the different printing: an inking more or less
heavy may make disappearing some important detail: in the same way a margin
not well cut may eliminate a detail that was decisive (often the dividing
lines between stamps are key for this study); be careful also with the occasional
printing defects that can induce to mistakes by presenting themselves only
on that specific sheet but that are not common and repetitive of that run
of printing.
This limited study wants to represent the 100 pieces of the plate to allow
for each of us to appreciate how these stamps are not identical. Anyway this
is not the way to absolutely identify their position: it would be ideal to
have available all the 100 pieces brand new and with large margins...... I
hope that with the collaboration of the collectors I will be in condition
to substitute the samples that represent here, several of them of relatively
bad quality.
The way this small applets work is quite intuitive: it's enough to select
the wanted position and the related stamp will appear in the window.
