Richard Byrne -philatelic woodcarver

According to the Artist Asylum website, the APS recognized Richard Byrne in 2003 as one of only two known “philatelic woodcarvers” in the world, and the only one which was active at that time.

After retiring from the Postal Service in 1992 with 31 years of service, Bryne relocated to Wisconsin where he began a second career in woodcarving. A visit to the National Postal Museum in 1995 inspired him to begin carving famous postage stamps in large-scale high relief.

The first major project—the Commemorative Series, 1901—consisted of six stamp honoring advances in business, commerce, and transportation made in the 19th Century.

Known as the “Pan Americans” after the 1901 exhibition in Buffalo, New York, the carvings have been on exhibit at the Headquarters of the American Philatelic Society (APS) since January, 2002.

Bryne also had a booth at Washington 2006 where he worked on and displayed some of his unbelievably detailed works of art.

Sixteen of his carvings (including the one shown above) are being auctioned on-line by Regency Superior. Web bidding ends on Saturday Aug 26, 2006 at 5:00 pm CST. To view them, click here.

For more on Bryne himself, click here.