From the archive: July/August 2000 Review

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The Spanish company Domfil has produced a bound, illustrated catalogue, in Spanish and English, available to be ordered via their website. It lists Scott, Yvert and Michel numbers. I found it very interesting and shall be investigating further, as some stamps listed include cats that are unknown to me. Not all stamps are pictured, and it's slightly confusing that some smaller wild cats are listed too, but it's a useful production.
[ Note: a second edition of this catalogue, updated and more accurate, was published in 2004. ]

A 1998 single from Djibouti picturing two cats and a catmint plant was mentioned in Gibbons Stamp Monthly; I suspect this will be a hard one to find.
[ Note: it was — and very expensive! I was told it was not made freely available outside Djibouti. ]

I'm not sure why, but stamps from the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda, bearing both those names, usually turn up later overprinted 'Barbuda Mail'. The sheetlet and MS (miniature sheet) of six kittens from 1997 have just appeared overprinted in this way (left). It seems also to be becoming popular to reissue earlier stamps with the addition of a logo for big international philatelic exhibitions. The Armenia Turkish Van stamp (right), and the New Zealand 'Popular Pets' cat and rabbit MS from early last year (not pictured), have both reappeared inscribed for the China 99 event.

Indonesia is new to the cat-stamp scene and produced an attractive 1999 sheetlet of six domestic creatures, including some birds and a tortie-and-white cat. It is rather reminiscent of Australia's 1996 'pets' set.

African countries — or their agents — produce some pleasing issues and Zambia is another newcomer. Two sheetlets of six in the composite-design style, plus four single stamps and two MSs, appeared in October, along with an equivalent set of dogs. The MS pictured (left) shows Siamese tabby points. Congo (the Republic this time, not the 'Democratic Republic') has produced a pleasant set of six cats — Korats are shown here (right) — and an MS with a group of Abyssinians on board.

In December 1999 Angola released a tribute to Japanese artist Hokusai to commemorate the anniversary of his death 150 years ago. There are two sheetlets of six and two MSs, including one stamp with two cats and two birds in a minimalist kind of style.

I finally obtained the most attractive sheetlet of nine cats, supposedly from Niger, that I had been seeking for some time (left), but I feel they are most likely not 'real stamps'. However, another issue from Niger, a sheetlet of 'space animals' (right), bears the name J.-L. Puvilland, who designs many stamps for French-speaking African countries, so these are probably genuine. Included is Félix the cat, who (almost) went aloft in a French Véronique rocket in 1963.
[ Note: read more about Félix and Félicette. ]

One of Norway's pair of Christmas stamps this year has the family cat included in the group near the tree. These are self-adhesives and come in a booklet containing two of each design.

The United States has produced a handsome sheet of 15 stamps for each decade of the twentieth century. The one devoted to the 1950s features Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat, a character created in 1957 that appeared in children's books (outer left). The 1980s sheet includes an actor in full make-up from the long-running Lloyd Webber musical Cats; an illustrated first-day cover is shown here (inner left). Japan, too, is running a 'century' series on similar lines; the first sheet appeared in August. Two of the ten stamps honour novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), and one (right) has a stylised cat from the cover of his book I Am a Cat.

There is a superb Millennium sheetlet from the Isle of Man; strictly it shows a wild cat, but I find it so impressive that I will include it here. The three stamps show Manx skies and views at sunset, midnight and sunrise, symbolising the times of 23.59, midnight (0.00) and 00.01, respectively, at the year's end. Each stamp includes constellations and the middle one shows Lynx the cat and the animal it's named after. A beautiful group.

Guernsey's set called Stampin' the Future was designed by island children — interestingly, all girls! — and ten-year-old Abigail Downing's painting shows a family linking hands, plus dog and cat.