Joint Issues : India - France (No. 1)

Stamp Design/Theme: Fine Arts, Local art in form of Peacock and Rooster represented on ceramic or on miniature paintings.

India:
Issue Date: 29.11.2003
Miniature Sheet, Sheetlet
Denomination: Rs. 22 each, Miniature Sheet Rs. 44, Sheetlet Rs. 352

France
Issue Date: 01.12.2003
Set of two stamps. (In sheet of 30 each)
Denomination: Euros 0.50 and 0.90

First Day Cover from France.

This issue was declared as the most beautiful joint issue pairs of 2003.

One of the stamps represents a rooster from the 15th Century work "Heures a l'usage de Rome''. The rooster had been a symbol of vigilance, sign of hope and faith in religion. During the First World War, it became the flag bearer of national sentiment and embodied French resistance to the Prussian Eagle.

The other stamp depicts a peacock from the 19th Century piece of jewellery crafted in the Minkari tradition. The work was done on reverse of a sarpech or turban crest set with emeralds in the Mughal period, which is one among the many exquisite collections of National Museum, New Delhi.