Seal of approval
For travel writer John Wilmott, a visit to Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh and the discovery of a long-forgotten stamp sparks memories of his childhood
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learing out one of several junk-stuffed cupboards a few months ago, I came across something I had not set eyes on for years. It is a square envelope with a strange printed seal on the front and a hieroglyphics puzzle on the back. Inside is a smaller envelope on which there is a Royal Mail stamp depicting the famous boy king Tutankhamun. The postmark says ‘First Day Of Issue’ with the date of April 26, 1972. The day of my 11th birthday. I had long forgotten that this had been a gift. The stamp’s value is three pence – this was a year after decimalisation. Contained within the small envelope was a card. It turns out this little package was a rather sophisticated (for the time) promotional vehicle for Wiggins Teape, a manufacturer of speciality writing paper. The blurb draws a parallel between the papyrus used by ancient Egyptians and the company’s fine papers – the document is printed on timeless Conqueror Vellum. I don’t know if my rediscovery of this little prize was an omen, but just a few days later I received an email stating that Viking was to be the Presenting Sponsor for a major new exhibition, Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, at the Saatchi Gallery in London. When this exhibition finishes touring through several countries, we will be on the cusp of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter. My 1972 first-day cover was produced to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery and was part of the enormous hype surrounding a major Tutankhamun exhibition in the UK that year. 72
VIKINGCRUISES.CO.UK | SPR ING 2020
