About This Stamp
Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Pears, a ten-cent definitive stamp featuring an illustration of two brilliantly red pears, is being offered in panes of 20 and coils of 3,000 and 10,000.
Pears (genus Pyrus) are one of the world’s oldest cultivated fruits. They grow on medium-sized, long-lived, flowering trees that generally produce fruit in their fourth to sixth year of growth. Thousands of varieties — in hues of green, yellow, red, and brown — are grown throughout the world.
Pear trees, like apple trees, can surprise their growers with “sport” branches (also referred to as spontaneous mutations) that bear fruit differing in appearance from the anticipated produce. Thus, a tree producing green pears may spontaneously sport a branch of red pears. Other red pears are the result of hybridizing, or crossbreeding two different varieties.
Harvested when mature — the fruit snaps off the branch when lifted — pears ripen at room temperature. Testing for ripeness is simple: Press gently at the base of the stem; if you feel a slight give, your pear is ripe.
Pears are among the most popular fruits in the world, and for good reason. These low-calorie treats provide a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. Great snacks eaten fresh out of hand, and perhaps over a sink so the juice drips there, pears can be poached, baked, sliced into salads, and star on a cheese plate.
Art director Derry Noyes designed this stamp with an existing illustration by John Burgoyne.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Derry Noyes
For more than 40 years Derry Noyes has designed and provided art direction for close to 800 United States postage stamps and stamp products. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hampshire College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University.
Noyes worked as a graphics designer at Beveridge and Associates, a Washington, D.C., firm, until 1979 when she established her own design firm, Derry Noyes Graphics. Her clients have included museums, corporations, foundations, and architectural and educational institutions. Her work has been honored by American Illustration, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, Communication Arts, Critique magazine, Graphis, Creativity International, and the Society of Illustrators.
Before becoming an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, she served as a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983.
Noyes is a resident of Washington, D.C.
Existing Art By
John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne was raised in Massachusetts, where he developed a passion for art at a very early age. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art, Burgoyne embarked on a career as an illustrator. Today he works from his studio on Sandy Neck, Cape Cod, in Massachusetts.
Burgoyne’s illustrations have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Cook's Illustrated, New York, Town and Country, Garden & Gun, Golf Digest, and Golf. His corporate clients have included Apple, American Express, Anheuser-Busch, Nike, Delta, IBM, the United States Postal Service, Volkswagen, Daimler Chrysler, Publix, A+E, and A24 Films. He has also created art for the Florida Aquarium, Bermuda Aquarium, and the Bermuda National Trust. Burgoyne's vineyard clients include Harlan Estate, Spottswoode, Trinchero, and Chappellet.
A member of the New York Society of Illustrators, Burgoyne has received more than 100 awards in the United States and Europe. His work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, the Hatch Awards, Graphis, Print, One Show, Clio, and the New York Art Directors Club.
Existing illustrations of fruits by Burgoyne have appeared on the Apples postcard stamps (2013); on three 2016 low-denomination stamp issuances: Apples (one cent), Grapes (five cents), and Pears (ten cents); on one 2017 issuance, Strawberries (three cents); and on one 2018 issuance, Meyer Lemons (two cents). He created original illustrations for the Otters in Snow Forever® stamps (2021).