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Keyplate Designs and Labels
Keyplate designs were used by the various colonial powers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in their overseas territories, as an economic way of printing postage stamps for many countries at the lowest possible cost. The idea originated in the period 1848 – 1854 when Perkins Bacon produced stamps for Mauritius, Barbados and Trinidad using a standard design showing Britannia seated on sugar bags. Separate plates were engraved for each colony, using the same master die. This was taken to its logical conclusion in 1879 when De La Rue produced head and duty plates for a series of stamps issued for Nevis. The Queen’s profile was contained in an octagon, with the name of the colony in a panel at the top and the value in a panel at the foot. This standard design, with only the names of the colonies and the values altered, was also used later the same year for stamps released by Antigua. The Virgin Islands (1880), Cyprus and Turks Islands (1881) and St Lucia (1882) also used this keyplate design and, in a modified form, it was also adopted by Natal and Grenada (1883).
A second keyplate design was evolved by 1889 and this remained in use, with changes of the royal profile, as late as 1956 (Leeward Islands).
Colonial key types were adopted by the other European imperial powers. Spain (1855) and Portugal (1870) at first adopted the ‘Britannia’ principle, with identical designs in the various colonies and the mother country, derived from the same master die but keyplates, with separate head and duty plates, were not adopted by Portugal until 1897. France followed Britain’s lead with the ‘Tablet’ design (1892) and the Palms-Faidherbe-Ballay designs confined to the colonies in West Africa (1906 – 1908). In 1900-1901, Germany adopted the ‘Hohenzollern’ key types in her overseas territories. Spain, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands preferred uniform designs rather than standard keyplates.
Labels have been attached to stamps for various reasons. Advertising labels, printed alongside stamps, first appeared in stamp booklets in Germany in November, 1910, followed by Bavaria in 1911. Other countries adopted this practice: Great Britain (1924), Belgium (1927), Ireland (1931) and the United States (1962). In 1924 – 1925, Italy issued definitive stamps with advertising labels alongside, as an integral part of the stamp (i.e. without perforations separating the stamp and the label). This was revived in 1942 for a series with war propaganda labels.
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