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Western Cattle in Storm is a $1 stamp issued by the United States Post Office Department as part of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Issue. ''Western Cattle in Storm'' is one of nine commemorative postage stamps in the series, which marked the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska. While the entire Trans-Mississippi Issue set has been praised for its quality, viewed by generations of U. S. stamp specialists as "one of the most beautiful sets of postage stamps our country has ever issued,"〔Randy L. Neil with Jack Rosenthal, ''The Trans-Mississippi Issue of 1898'' (Andrew Levitt, Danbury Connecticut, 1997) a: p. xv; b, c, d: p. 145.〕 the $1 stamp, also called the ''Black Bull'', stands out from the rest.〔 The breed of cattle used in the issue were meant to represent the ruggedness of the American West, but actually derive from the Highlands of Scotland. That’s because the design originated in a John MacWhirter painting (1878) depicting cattle in a winter storm in central Scotland. An engraving of this painting by one C. O. Murray was published at least twice in England, and this image, copied, without the permission of the painting's owner, Lord Blythswood, was used by an American cattle company on its calendar as a trademark of sorts. "MacWhirter, however, was a Scot, and his painting, entitled ''The Vanguard'', was soon discovered to have been a depiction of Scottish cattle in a storm in Scotland," according to a company called Chicago Stamps. "It was actually painted in a small farmhouse near the Scottish highland town of Calendar. The scene did not depict an event west of the Mississippi, but it might have been, and few really cared about this detail, for cattle were an important part of the western U.S. economy." (Note: the correct spelling of the town is Callander.) This image caught the attention of the Post Office Department and Raymond Ostrander Smith, the staff designer of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at the time, and it was adopted for the $1 design. Little did the designer know that the scene depicted was in Scotland, not the Western U.S., as was supposed. A full apology was later issued to the owner of the painting.〔 Both the frame and the vignette of the stamp were engraved by Marcus W. Baldwin; the numerals and lettering were the work of Douglas S. Ronaldson.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Siegel Auction galleries )〕 == Production and printing == Ironically, the feature that gives this stamp its singular distinction and beauty, its coal-black color, was decided upon only a few days before the issue went to press; previous versions seen in surviving essays are far less dramatic in appearance.〔 The $1 stamp and the eight others in the Trans-Mississippi series were originally to be two-toned, with all the vignettes printed in black and the various frames printed in different colors. In preliminary bi-color die essays, a brownish-purple frame surrounds the cattle herd. However, after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing found its resources severely overtaxed by the need for additional revenue stamps, and so, elected to simplify the printing process for the Trans-Mississippi series by issuing the stamps in single colors. The color initially chosen for the $1 value, announced by the Post Office on May 16, was light brown. Only on May 26, four days before printing began, did the public learn that the denomination would instead be printed with black ink.〔 The entire printing run of ''Western Cattle in Storm'' lasted three days, from June 1–3, 1898. In all, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing shipped 56,900 copies of the stamp to post offices.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western Cattle in Storm」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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