Another example of MacDonald Gill’s charming postcard map designed for the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board [c1934]

Map of Ceylon showing her Tea industry

Bright printed colours. Thicker than usual heavy duty card with slightly embossed sheen to colour printing. Very slightest of toning and browning to blank borders & edges. Unused. Blank verso. Overall excellent clean condition.

The widespread distribution of these wonderful postcard maps designed by MacDonald Gill (his signature MacD G appears in the lower right corner) formed another strand of the advertising and promotional campaign of the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board in the early 1930’s. Their initials appear just above the title of the map (Issued by CTPB) in the upper right corner of the engraving. Gill’s distinctive design style is immediately apparent, with a typical corner sunburst and windheads and an array of ships and galleons in the seas around Ceylon as used on his larger pictorial poster, as well as finely detailed depictions of native peoples, flora and fauna within the Island’s interior. The main coastal ports and settlements are attractively highlighted by means of unfurled scrollwork banners. The principal tea growing regions are also clearly denoted. The card appears in numerous slightly different variants and states, some examples being printed in Great Britain, some in Ceylon. Those printed in Ceylon usually bear the imprint of H & C Press Columbo or, as here, have the simple wording “Printed in Ceylon” in the lower left border. Some are designed as postcards, others as small advertising flyers or commercial Ceylon tea order forms or as short promotional paper booklets. Good examples of these uncommon original MacDonald Gill Ceylon postcard maps are increasingly collectable and sought-after.