Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 16012 - Meiso Mizuhara, The Exhibition Collections, The Chinese Customs Post
Lot: 1699

China
1885-88 The Small Dragon Issue
Covers
French Post Office
1888 (23 Jan.) opened-out envelope to Paris bearing, on the reverse, 1ca. green on yellowish, 3ca. lilac (with interpanneau margin at left) used in combination with Large Dragon 5ca. bright orange-yellow [18] with wide margins, cancelled by two strikes of the Peking seal in grey-blue with a fine strike of the "i.g. of customs/peking" type 2 despatch c.d.s. (with serif letters) alongside, with Customs Shanghai (7.2) c.d.s. and the adhesives tied by two Paris c.d.s. (8.3); the address side with France 25c. tied by "shang-hai/chine" c.d.s. with "modane a paris" transit in red. There is a tiny fault at the top of the envelope, otherwise exceptionally fresh and fine.


Paying the 9ca. rate to Europe.


A cover of considerable beauty and importance. A magnificent and very rare three-colour combination of first and second issues. Very few Large and Small Dragon combination covers are known, this being even more desirable as it includes the wide margin 5ca.


An exhibition item if the highest calibre

provenance: Sir Percival David, October 1974

This Customs Peking datestamp was only employed between January 1888 and April 1889

Sold for
HK$1,500,000