Sale 78 China and other Asian Countries

China, 1887 (9 Jan.) printed envelope to Copenhagen, Denmark (2.2) bearing on reverse 1885 Large Dragons thick paper, rough perfs., 1ca. green and 5ca. chrome-yellow, and 1885 Small Dragon rough perf. 12½ 3ca. mauve, tied by two superb strikes of "Customs/Chinkiang" double-ring d.s., showing "Customs/Shanghai" double-ring transit d.s. (10.1) and arrival c.d.s. adjacent, and on front France Peace and Commerce 25c. cancelled by "Shang-hai/Chine" c.d.s. (11.1), opened out for display, extremely fine tri-colour mixed issue franking paying the 9 candarins rate to Europe through the French Post Office. An absolutely wonderful cover of the highest magnitude and exhibition calibre. Chan 10, 12, 17.
Estimate HK$ 1,000,000 - 1,200,000

Provenance: Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman, Interasia (Hong Kong), 26.2.2011, lot 239.

References: James B. Whang, A Comprehensive Illustration on Covers of the Large Dragons (Taipei, 1997), pp. 531-532.

LESS THAN TEN LARGE DRAGON-SMALL DRAGON MIXED ISSUE COVERS ARE KNOWN.

IRREFUTABLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE IN THE TOP ECHELON OF LARGE DRAGON COVERS AND AMONG THE GREATEST OF THE WORLD'S MIXED ISSUE FRANKINGS, SINCE IT BEARS THE FIRST AND SECOND ISSUES OF CHINA.

Auction Record
Christie's Robson Lowe (Zurich), 23.11.1989, lot 2027.