Scott No: 540-541
Serial number: C80
Values in set: 2
Date of issue: November 28, 1960
Denomination: 18 fen
Designer: Lu Tianjiao
Engraver: Kong Shaohui
Size of stamps: 26*35.5mm
Perforation: 11
Sheet composition: 40(10*4)
Printing process:
Engraving for 1;
Photogravure for 2
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

C80 "140th Anniversary of the Birth of Engels" commemorative stamps were issued on November 28, 1960. The set consists of 2 stamps: (2-1) printed by engraving and (2-2) by photogravure, designed by Lu Tianjiao, engraved by Kong Shaohui, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 26 mm × 35.5 mm, perforation gauge 11, 40 stamps per sheet (10 × 4), with a total face value of 0.18 yuan for the set; Engels Speaking at the Hague Congress of the First International 8 fen, circulation 6.4 million copies; Portrait of Engels 10 fen, circulation 2.5 million copies.

Theme of the Set

Friedrich Engels was one of the founders of Marxism, the close comrade-in-arms of Marx, and a great revolutionary mentor of the proletariat. To commemorate the 140th anniversary of Engels's birth, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued this set, honoring his outstanding contributions to the founding of revolutionary theory and the international workers' movement, and commemorating his historical achievements in laying the theoretical cornerstone of scientific socialism together with Marx.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Engels Speaking at the Hague Congress of the First International

The design recreates the scene of the Hague Congress of the First International: Engels stands at the podium delivering a speech, and Marx sits in the audience listening. The Hague Congress was an important meeting of the First International; it settled accounts with anarchist trends of thought and consolidated the leading position of Marxism in the international workers' movement, and it is a landmark event in the history of the international communist movement.

Portrait of Engels

The design is a profile bust of Engels in his mature years, with clear hair and beard and a calm, profound expression. After Marx's death, Engels single-handedly organized and published the subsequent volumes of Das Kapital, continued to guide the workers' parties of various countries, and promoted the wide spread of Marxism; this portrait concisely presents the revolutionary mentor's scholarly temperament and firm conviction.

Artistic Design Features

The set uniformly adopts a vertical format, with the two stamps using engraving and photogravure respectively, the difference in process bringing visual distinction. The engraved plate has solid, weighty lines, suited to presenting the historical scene of the congress, with a strong narrative feel; the photogravure plate has soft layers, used to shape the portrait, with a warm and expressive depiction of the figure's expression. Scene and portrait echo each other, one dynamic narrative and one static freeze, dignified and restrained, with a rich sense of historical weight.