Great Britain 1840 Rainbow Trial Presentation Sheet
For Sale: £120,000.00
This sheet contains eight shades of red and two of blue, from the
Rainbow Trials of 1840. A handwritten annotation reading "all in oil"
has been inscribed in the top left corner.
Specimens
1,2,3,9 and 10 are on medium white wove paper and 4,5,6,7 and 8 are on
medium laid. They all have 'Prussiate of Potash' in the ink.
The series of experiments can be dated back to August 27 1840.
Further examples of this sheet can be found in the Royal Philatelic Collection and the R.M. Phillips collection.
This
sheet is identical to the one in the Royal Philatelic Collection,
except that the Royal sheet has a legend on the right-hand side in
Joshua Bacon's hand which reads: "different mixtures to produce
different shades and in all cases the clearest prints have the strongest
oil". Opposite the two One Penny blue stamps is "2 shades of blue both
fugitive and printed in oil".
This exceptionally rare piece is Ex the collection of Colonel Bates.
The Rainbow Trials
The Rainbow Trials, began in 1840 to test the colour of the stamp that would become the Penny Black.
Tests
were made to check the printing inks, cancellation inks and an
assortment of papers. Printed in blocks of twelve, the stamps were made
void by the removal of a corner (top right) and no corner letters.
