Lot 70025 – CHINA – The « Crown Jewel » of Chinese Philately

CHINA – The « Crown Jewel » of Chinese Philately The « Countess Caroline » Cover of the Large Dragons 5 Candarins Wide Setting. The famous cover addressed to Griffin Varoline Tattenbach, stunningly franked by the remarkable block of 9 of the rare 5 Candarins Large Dragon, Wide Setting III (types 7+5, 12+8 / 19-6-20-13-14), cancelled and tied by attractive blue oval PEKING « pa-kua » cancels and showing I.G.Customs/Peking cds of March 25, 1883. The cover was sent to Germany via the French Post Office in Shanghai, the reverse shows Chinese Customs Shanghai cds of March 30. The front of the cover with French 1f and 25c tied by French P.O. SHANG-HAI/CHINE cds of April 1, also French maritime cds LIGNE N of April 8 and Munich, Germany arrival of May 12. The upper right stamp, type 8 shows the character with the « long-leg Dah » variety (upper right square). Under the Postal Tariff of 1882, the franking of 45 Candarins paid a five fold letter rate (i.e. 5 times the single-weight letter rate for 0.4 Chinese oz., or up to 2 Chinese oz.) while the French franking also paid a five-fold letter rate to Europe. The cover is fully described by Ireland in his handbook on the Large Dragons (p.105). The cover is widely acknowledged since its appearance at public auction in the 1970’s as the most valuable cover of China. When acquired by Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman in 1984, its outstanding quality and rarity prompted them to name this item above all others in their vast China collection as « The Crown Jewel of Chinese Philately ». (Noted as No. 11 in Linn’s Stamp News 2011 List of World’s Top Philatelic Items) Certificate : FIAP 2015 Provenance: Warren Kauder Peter Holcombe Giangiacomo Orlandini Anna Lisa & Sven-Eric Beckeman Exhibited: Singapore 1995 : Highlight of China Grand Prix Collection New York, Anphilex 1997 : « Rare Stamps of the World » Court of Honour in several FIP International Exhibitions China 2009 World Stamp Exhibition : « The most valuable and most important item in Chinese philately » Start Price : € 700’000