ROYAL BARGE & JABEQUE TAJO

[aukepalmhof]

This two boats appears in the manuscript "Fiestas Reales en el Reinado de Fernando VI", coming from the library of the Royal Palace of Madrid. This manuscript is a work by Carlos Broschir, known as Farinelli. From Italian origin, Farinelli was the truly notable singer around Europe. In 1746 in the reign of Fernando VI he settled in Spain and was designated director of the Royal entertainment by the King. He designed the performances for the Real Coliseo del Buen Retiro de Madrid and the Real Sitio de Aranjuez, scrupulously described in this work.
The manuscript has two parts; in the first one the theatre plays are told and in the second the author describes the fun and games in Aranjuez, including a wide explanation about the squadrons employed and the King's retinue used to sail the Tajo River. The boat displayed in the ATM paper was one of them used by the King.

The Royal Barge depict on the 35 peso stamp, who was used by the King and his family and servants on the River Tagus was luxurious and richly gilded and carved, painted inside with Chinese scenes. She was fitted out with a plush red velvet pavilion trimmed with silver, had an awing that when deployed, covered the entire barge.
A crew of 24 men and a boatswain, the boatswain was a lieutenant in the Spanish Royal Navy.
When the King was on board, there were also eight musicians under Farinelli directions on board for the entertainment.

The fleet of vessels following the King's barge was made in the shape of a peacock or deer.
The Jabeque Tajo, on the 70 peso stamp and the ATM, was a long vessel, with a low-lying gunwale and three masts with latin sails. It was a very colourful boat, painted in green colour and decorated with golden shells and snails. It was powered by sail or twelve rowers and had a crew of sixteen men and a sub-lieutenant who was the navigator and the helmsman. This boat was used only by the butlers, clerks, and doctors of the King.
The foremast raked forward. The type was also used as a cargo vessel until the 1940s and is better known then as “xebec”.

Spanish ATM issued 1998 4,5 and 6 digits.
Spain 1998 35/70p sg3476/3477, scott?

Source: internet and http://www.correos.es/ss/Satellite/site ... 25B1o+1998

[Miguel Gil]

The xebec is a typically Mediterranean vessel with three masts (the foremast leans towards the bow, and the mainmast and mizzen are practically vertical) and lateen sails. This ex-voto is a model of a 28-gun xebec with full rigging and sails. The sails on the foremast and mizzen are striped blue and white, while the sails on the mainmast and the jib are striped white and red. The figurehead shows an animal’s head, and a human head is carved at the rudder. The inscription on the transom confirms it as an ex-voto: “Exvo me fecit Francisco Fabregas 1785”.

Source
https://www.mmb.cat/es/colleccions/exvo ... o-jabeque/

Stamp.ATM.Spain 2002
https://filatelia.correos.es/es/es/rinc ... os-jabeque

[Miguel Gil]

The Spanish Royal Army started to use the Xabeck around the middle of the XVIII century to fight against the Argelian pirates because they were faster and better armed than the galleys. The Royal Army built Xabecks armed to war with twenty cannons placed in a uncovered battery on the upper deck.

https://ateeme.net/angles/welcome_a.html


Sahara OCC R.A.S.D 1998