On 21 April 2020 Australia issued a set of six postage stamps presenting official emblems of 'our states and territories'.
I intend to post images and descriptions of the six stamps in the next few days.
The issue poses at least two questions. Why were the particular states and territories selected
(or perhaps why were others not selected) and, given the vast number of depictions of the featured birds, why were these illustrations used?
Australia is a federation with six states and two mainland territories. Only four states are included in the set with the 'absentees' being Tasmania and South Australia.
The media statement by AusPost says 'This stamp issue features six bird species that have been proclaimed as government emblems.' Given that announcement it is easy to see why Tasmania is not included. Although they have proclaimed the Tasmanian devil as the official animal there is no official bird. However, it is generally recognised that the Yellow Wattlebird (
Anthochaera paradoxa) fulfills that role in an unofficial capacity.
The non-inclusion of South Australia is more of a mystery. In this case there is an official bird which is variously described as White-backed Magpie, Piping Shrike and Australian Magpie (
Gymnorhina tibicen) -
see my avatar.
In the short time since the release of this set social media has debated the omission without reaching a firm conclusion. Given that the illustrations come from Elizabeth Gould
(see later) it might be supposed that this bird was not included in her portfolio. That is extremely unlikely as John Gould first described the White-backed Magpie in 1837 and, in any one form of the nine sub-species, it was, and still is, found across much of Australia.
So, unless someone can post an official comment from AusPost, the omission of South Australia remains a mystery.
Now we come to the depictions used for the six birds.
I cannot explain why, as there does not appear to be any anniversary or special event, but I am happy to report that the illustrations come from John Gould’s 1848 publication,
The Birds of Australia: in seven volumes. More accurately the major contributor was Elizabeth Gould.
The Birds of Australia 'contains descriptions and coloured lithographs of more than 680 species, more than 320 of which had not been previously described.
This is why John Gould (1804-1881), zoologist and ornithologist, is considered the “father of bird study” in Australia. And while his achievements are considerable, it is worth noting that so too were the achievements of Gould’s wife, natural history artist Elizabeth Gould (née Coxen, 1804—1841), who sadly passed away, at age 37, prior to The Birds of Australia being published. While John Gould was the editor of this impressive publication and provided all of the descriptions, there would be no publication in the visual sense, if not for the tireless efforts of Elizabeth Gould in producing hundreds of sketches from the specimens collected during the couple’s two-year visit to Australia.'
'Artist Elizabeth Gould spent her life capturing the sublime beauty of birds the world had never seen before. But her legacy was eclipsed by the fame of her husband, John Gould … (She was) a passionate and adventurous spirit who was so much more than the woman behind the man. Elizabeth was a woman ahead of her time, juggling the demands of her artistic life with her roles as wife, lover, helpmate, and mother to an ever-growing brood of children. In a golden age of discovery, her artistry breathed wondrous life into hundreds of exotic new species, including Charles Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches.
Elizabeth Gould is commemorated in the name of the Gouldian Finch (also known as the Lady Gouldian Finch), a beautiful finch, common to northern Australia. It was described by John Gould and named in honour of his late wife, who by all reports he loved and grieved deeply.
Some of the above information was extracted from the following lengthy article provided by Australia Post:
https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/articles/elizabeth- ... ralia.html