Auction 321 - 332 Australian States & Commonwealth of Australia, St. Helena, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, Brazil 1843 –1870 - Day 1

1888: 3 d. lilac & black, a vertically bisected example used on famous 1904 cover top Maida Vale, London in combination with Protectorate 1902 ½ d. blue-green horizontal pair paying the correct 2½ d. rate, tied by neat strikes of "KANYE / BECHUANALAND" cds's in black (Dec 6, date slug inverted), the bisect signed underneath by "D. Solomon, P.M." as Postmaster. The reverse flap missing and paart address erased, reduced and reinstated. Nevertheless a magnificent cover - just four "Kanye" bisect covers are recorded: Two are available to collectors and bear halves of the same 3 d. adhesive; this cover and the one in the Danson & Inglefield-Watson collection (lot 1372), the others bear a bisected 4 d. value (Mosley collection, British Library) and a 1 s. value bisected (housed in the collection of His Majesty King Charles III). A rarity. Cert. BPA (1990).rnrnProvenance: Harmers, London, 24 Feb 2003, lot 1030.