U.S. & Worldwide Stamps & Postal History
May 25-26, 2021

Our May 25-26, 2021 Auction will run live via CherrystoneLIVE. This 1,382 lot sale features United States and Worldwide countries, beginning with a solid selection of U.S. singles, sets, Postal History and Possessions. The Foreign section features a highly specialized collection of French Indochina, with 19th Century military and civilian mail from what is today Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. This collection was formed by a former French Colonial resident, with an excellent eye for postal history and considered a foremost expert of the subject. From Germany, there are used and unused selections from an-old time collection formed with assistance from Herbert Bloch and the Friedl Expert Committee. Great Britain and British Commonwealth are followed by a collection of Imperial Japan, including the original collection formed in 1875 by Baron Maejima Hisoka, founder of the Japanese Postal System. Italian Offices in China include three rare Pechino and Tientsin items, including unique covers. The Poland selection features Krakow Issue, Locals, Polish Army Corps in Italy, with unique errors and varieties. Russia boasts a collection of 300+ lots of Zemstvo, with many ex-Baughman, Faberge, and Bianchi items. In addition, this sale includes a strong selection of 100+ large lots and collections ranging from single country albums to specialized collections, multi-carton worldwide properties and large cover lots

ImagesDescriptionCurrent Bid
Lot #1321
LARGE LOTS AND COLLECTIONS French Indochina Ship Mail
1866-1913 collection titled "Indo-China; exploration of the Mekong River Basin and Steamship along the river", 71 covers or cards, mostly written-up exhibition style on pages, covering the mid-19th Century exploration by the French colonialists of the Mekong river, led by Francis Garnier and the introduction of the French-built shallow draft steamer known as the "Messageries Fluviales de Chochin-Chine" which operated on the River between their base at Saigon and up as far as Pnom Penh. Over the course of two years, the expedition, also known as the Mekong Exploration Commission traversed almost 9,000 km from Saigon through 19th-Century Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar into China's Yunnan Province, finally arriving in Shanghai and mapping over 5,800 km of previously unknown terrain. The expedition gained the highest acclaim among scholars, in particular the Royal Geographical Society in London and was the first to reveal the Mekong valley region, its people, and southern China to Europeans. Some of the highlights include early covers or cards from the Garnier expedition, postcards showing the rapids and waterfalls (known as "Chutes de Khone"), 1888 French General Colonies postal stationery 15c letter card with "Vapeur No.5" (earliest known usage), 1891 card to Surat, India, 1893 stationery entire envelope to Pnom Penh, with Vapeur No.2 cancel, others to Saigon, different "Vapeur" Numbers, 1901 unfranked cover from Long Xuyen to Saigon, with Vapeur No.12, covers to Switzerland with Vapeur No.20, carried on the French Paquebots "Polynesian" and "Annam" from Saigon, various Chinese red-band covers to Saigon, plus many others. A splendid collection, provenance noted on pages (ex-Borje Wallberg,Desrousseaux, etc.)
Envelope
Price Realized
$9,000.00

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