Shipping in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
In 2025, PostNL is releasing a series of 8 framed stamp sheets titled Shipping in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The first two stamp sheets will be released on April 1, 2025 (merchant shipping and the Dutch Republic). Do you have shipping as a theme in your collection?
Shipping in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
In 2025, PostNL is releasing a series of 8 framed stamp sheets titled "Shipping in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries." The first two stamp sheets will be released on April 1, 2025 (merchant shipping and the Dutch State Fleet). The other release dates this year are June 3 (coastal shipping and driftnet and trawl fishing), August 26 (hook-and-line fishing and scheduled shipping), and November 18 (inland freight shipping and peat shipping). All stamp sheets are available for purchase individually or by subscription. On April 1, PostNL is also releasing an extra stamp sheet featuring 5 special ship types not depicted on the other stamp sheets (kraak, VOC ship, snauwschip, yacht, and schokker). The 9th stamp sheet is exclusively for subscribers to the complete series. Subscribers will receive this gift simultaneously with their first order.
Water transport was the most widely used method for transporting people and goods in the 17th and 18th centuries, and for a long time thereafter. Land roads were mostly unpaved and impassable for large parts of the year. Ships are necessary for water transport. In the 17th and 18th centuries, wooden ships were built in shipyards for, among other things, inland freight shipping, coastal shipping, the war fleet, fishing, and international merchant shipping. During that period, Dutch shipyards were leading in the construction of various types of vessels, for both domestic use and for customers elsewhere in Europe. A large proportion of Western European merchandise in the early modern period was transported on Dutch ships. At its peak, between 1660 and 1670, the merchant fleet of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands consisted of 2600 seagoing vessels of more than 100 tons. The lucrative Baltic trade (grain, timber) laid the foundation for economic prosperity in the Netherlands, later followed by shipping to Asia. The Republic was also a major power in the field of fisheries. This was certainly true for herring fishing (De Groote Visscherij) and whaling (De Kleine Visscherij), each with its own requirements regarding the construction and size of the vessels. Different types of ships were used for coastal shipping and inland transport between cities. In the 17th and 18th centuries, scheduled shipping developed into a large-scale maritime transport network to bring people and goods to inland destinations, operating on a fixed timetable. Alongside this early form of regulated public transport, there was extensive tramp shipping in the Republic to transport bulk goods and agricultural products by ship.
Each stamp sheet in the series Shipping in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries is dedicated to a specific shipping sector. The 5 stamps on each sheet feature illustrations of 5 different ship types within the relevant sector. A 17th or 18th-century nautical chart is depicted on the margin of each sheet. A color palette was used for the series, with a distinct color for each shipping sector. The colors on the stamps and in the typography are derived from these colors. Most of the images on the stamps come from a book published in 1789 containing a collection of etchings by the Rotterdam ship painter and draftsman Gerrit Groenewegen (1754-1826). For the stamp sheet depicting the peat trade, etchings by the painter Reinier Nooms (c. 1623-1664) were also used. For the stamps, the etchings were colored using two shades that blend into the water beneath the ships. In the background of each stamp, varying grid patterns with intersecting curved lines have been applied. The grid lines are divided into a narrow and a wide vertical band, with a distinct color scheme for each band. On some stamps, the narrow band has been left white to display the name of the ship type vertically. On the other stamps, the ship type name appears horizontally at the top. The shipping sectors depicted on the 8 stamp sheets are merchant shipping, the State Fleet, coastal shipping, driftnet and trawl fishing, hook-and-line fishing, scheduled shipping, inland cargo shipping, and peat shipping. On the 9th sheet, a gift for subscribers, 5 other special ship types (kraak, VOC ship, snauwschip, yacht, and schokker) are depicted.
Designer
The design for the stamp series 'Shipping in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries' was created by graphic designer Bart de Haas from The Hague. De Haas conducted extensive research to arrive at a logical classification of the various shipping sectors, along with the corresponding ship types. “In doing so, I benefited greatly from the work of historians such as Hans Haalmeier, Dick Vuik, and Remmelt Daalder regarding shipbuilding between 1600 and 1800. In their books, as well as in other publications, you often come across illustrations by Gerrit Groenewegen. He created beautiful etchings of various types of ships. These were published in a special collector's book in the late 18th century. I could turn to Gerrit for almost all the ships I wanted to depict. He also sometimes showed variants of certain ships, such as the hooker. For the Frisian and Veense peat ferries, I used an etching by another artist, Reinier Nooms, because those were not drawn by Gerrit.”
Empty sky
De Haas was able to reproduce most of the 45 etchings directly onto the stamps, after making some adjustments to increase the contrast. “The great advantage of Gerrit Groenewegen’s etchings is that he left the sky empty,” says De Haas. “Etchings from that period often feature heavy, cloudy skies. Not so with him. The advantage is that all attention is drawn to the ship itself, not to the surroundings. The original etchings are in black and white. That proved to be too washed out, even after increasing the contrast. I therefore added two color tones to the image itself: to both the ship and the water.”
Gradient grid pattern
In the background of each stamp, a gradient grid pattern of curved, colored lines has been applied. De Haas: “This is primarily intended to add depth. Furthermore, the pattern refers to the graphic character of the etchings, while the curved lines allude to wind and ship sails. Or to clouds, which you can also see in them. The lines have the same curvature throughout. Where they intersect, a blended color is created. The grid pattern is arranged in strips of varying widths, and the names of the ship types are placed alternately vertically and horizontally. With these staggered arrangements, I wanted to break the rectangular character of the fixed stamp frame.”
Variation in the overall picture
Variation has also been introduced into the overall image of the stamp sheet by alternating a detail of a ship with an etching of a ship in its entirety. “That increases the liveliness,” says De Haas. “The two outer ships always sail into the sheet. The three ships in the middle turn their bows alternately to the left or right, depending on what worked best compositionally. The height of the horizon is not uniform on the stamps. I adopted that staggered position directly from the etchings. Aligning them would influence the detailing too strongly and make it look too artificial. The ship is the main subject on every stamp. At most, you occasionally see glimpses of a crew or buildings on a coast in the background.”
Fixed palette
The geographical map on the margin of each stamp sheet was assigned a specific color from the fixed color palette for the series. De Haas: “In some cases, I was able to establish a substantive connection, such as with the brown color for the peat trade and the blue colors for the fishing fleets. Maps were selected from the Rijksmuseum collection that show, among other places, the locations where the depicted ships sailed. For merchant shipping, for example, you see a map of the Strait of Malacca off the coast of Sumatra; the Dutch State Fleet is linked to the English Channel, the peat trade to the Zuiderzee, and longline fishing was given a map of the North Sea showing the Dogger Bank. The position of the maps on the sheet margin is often determined by the details depicted. For inland cargo shipping, for instance, I wanted to bring the ships depicted on the map into view. On the stamp sheet featuring longitude and longitude fishing, I positioned the lines of longitude and latitude parallel to the stamps and along the perforation. And for inland cargo shipping, I thought it was nice to place the map of the Netherlands as was often done in the past – with the North Sea at the top.”
Lexicon
For the typography, De Haas chose a classic typeface by a 20th-century type designer. “It is the Lexicon, the serif typeface that Bram de Does designed specifically for the Dikke van Dale. This is an elegant and extremely regular typeface, much less jumpy than the examples from the 17th and 18th centuries on which it is based. The capitals of the Lexicon are also smaller and less dominant. De Does created several variants. For instance, I used the version with long ascenders and descenders for the title, and the one with short ascenders and descenders for the text block, because it makes the text more compact and, in this case, more readable.”
Technical data:
Mintage: 6.000 sheets per issue. In 2025, PostNL is releasing a series of 8 framed stamp sheets titled "Shipping in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries." The first two stamp sheets will be released on April 1, 2025 (merchant shipping and the Dutch State Fleet). The other issue dates this year are June 3 (coastal shipping and driftnet and trawl fishing), August 26 (hook-and-line fishing and scheduled shipping), and November 18 (inland freight shipping and peat shipping). All stamp sheets are available for purchase individually or by subscription. On April 1, PostNL is also releasing an extra stamp sheet featuring 5 special ship types not depicted on the other stamp sheets (kraak, VOC ship, snauwschip, yacht, and schokker). The 9th stamp sheet is exclusively for subscribers to the complete series. Subscribers will receive this gift simultaneously with their first order. All stamps bear the value indication 1 for mail up to and including 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The design of the stamps was created by graphic designer Bart de Haas from The Hague. The price for a sheet of 5 stamps is € 6,05. A subscription to the complete series costs € 48,40, including the extra sheet of stamps that the subscriber receives as a gift.
Used sources:
New Maritime History of the Netherlands, Wikipedia. PostNL Press Release.
Frame stamps
In addition to the official issuance program, PostNL has an annual issuance program for frame stamps. This program is flexible. Each issue is designed based on a fixed layout, with a fixed number of frame stamps. The stamps are available exclusively via the webshop and from Collect Club customer service at telephone number 088 – 868 99 00, while stocks last. As of March 31, 2025, "Kaderpostzegels" is the new name for the personalized stamps that PostNL designs and issues itself. The name "Kaderpostzegels" was chosen to clearly distinguish them from the personalized stamps designed by customers. Both variants use the same fixed frame for the face value, the sorting hook, and the country designation "Netherlands".
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