The Making of the Spiral Tree

11 December 1875

These are the various steps taken to realize a stamp, from the original graphics to the final issue. It's an interesting chance to see what might have been, what was thought of and how the design we all know now came to be.

First, four designs were submitted for review.

Once the design was chosen, a large version was sketched out to make on acetate to make sure all the details were in the engraving properly (although this isn’t the Spiral Tree sketch, it’s the only example I know of that shows this process).

Here, Hundertwasser and Seidel hold up their respective contribution to the realization.

A black and white version is printed (later, these are distributed to collectors in various ways, such as this announcement of the publishing of the stamp, signed by both Seidel and Hundertwasser).

Then, various color combinations are printed to test colors, design and the process.

Once all elements of production are set, the stamp is printed, issued and, of course, collected!