Lot 30132 – 1872, 1 sen blue, Government printing , type III, plate 19, complete reconstruction of 40

THE UNIQUE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE VERY RARE PLATE 191872, 1 sen blue, Government printing, type III, plate 19, an astonishing complete plate reconstruction of 40, made up of used stamps and including seven pairs from positions 1-2, 13-14, 25/33, 26/34, 27/35, 29/37 (remarkably exhibiting a red non-standard handstamp) and 39-40. To be highlighted the position 19 featuring the « dot missing in left sen ‘sen’ character » variety. The great majority of the stamps possess clear margins and include a good range of cancels. A breath-taking reconstruction of immense difficulty and the only known accomplished, this being by far the rarest plate of the 1 sen blue native paper, for the first time offered for sale. A true labour of passion and fascination, which is virtually impossible to duplicate, and which includes several very rare pairs. To be noted that one used pair is already estimated at ¥450,000 in the JHES catalogue, as well as the variety in position 19 at ¥400,000 in the JSCA catalogue. No sheets of this plate are recorded.The story of the plate 19 reconstruction: 1) Dr. Soichi Ichida, in his authoritative handbook « Japan 1 Sen Blue Native Paper of 1872 » (1970, two volumes), presented a reconstruction of the plate 19 with seemingly only one position open (position 18). But de facto, 10 to 12 of the 40 positions were not definitely confirmed, as there were not pairs available yet. 2) Mr. Fukuhara Kazunobu continued with the work of identifying the uncertain positions in the reconstruction by including pairs or rejoining pairs, and exhibited his last version at Philanippon 2001. This assemblage was unconfirmed for merely three positions: 18, 36 and 38. (Mr. Fukuhara was an eminent Japanese collector specialised in sheet reconstructions and president of « The Study Group of Hand Engraved Stamps » after Dr. Ichida, its founder; this Group publishes the JHES catalogue since 1973). Mr. Fukuhara won the « Grand Prix National » at Philanippon 2001, exhibiting several difficult reconstructions.3) In 2016, Narumi Stamp Co. (owned by Mr. Yamazaki Yoshiyuki) offered this reconstruction in a private treaty sale as « ex-Fukuhara », displaying the reconstructed sheet unchanged as exhibited in 2001. 4) Presumably Mr. Yamada Yuji acquired the reconstruction and exhibited this ex-Fukuhara assemblage without changes at NY 2016 (New York). 5) In 2018, Mr. Takano Norio confirmed the position 36 to be correct, corroborating the characteristics already formulated by Dr. Ichida. Then only positions 18 and 38 were not definitely accepted. (Mr. Norio was the president of the above-mentioned study Group founded by Dr. Ichida, also known as « Tebori Kittekenkyukai » in Japanese, who assumed the responsibility of the presidency after Mr. Fukuhara). The reconstruction was complete, but it is not clear whether position 18 or 36 are at their right places, as no pairs have been so far found yet.6) Compared to Mr. Fukuhara’s reconstruction, in Mr. Yamada’s version positions 38 and 18 were exchanged with each other. The current state of the reconstruction was shown at Philanippon 2021 by Mr. Yamada Yuji (« Grand Prix National »).Ascertained provenance of most of the items: Dr. Ichida SoichiFukuhara Kazunobu