Lot 20140 – Chinese red-band cover to St Petersburg endorsed F

Chinese red-band cover to St Petersburg endorsed FROM THE ACTIVE ARMY, posted on Chinese Eastern Railway POSTAL WAGON No.262 (HARBIN-MANCHULI) (train ‘3’) 7 (XI) 1904. Red Cross free-frank cachet on reverse: FLOATING HOSPITAL OF THE MARBLE PALACE Part of the Chinese Eastern Railway flotilla of ships and barges was handed over to the Red Cross to operate as hospitals on the River Sungari. Many of these were equipped and maintained under the patronage of royalty or the nobility. The Marble Palace in St Petersburg is now a branch of the Lenin Museum.