Lot 8130
1862: 1856, 6 d. lilac used with extraordinary overlapped franking of 1862 9 d. bistre, no less than 8 examples, all tied to cover front and part back endorsed 'via Marseilles' and addressed from London to Nagasaki, Japan care of Messrs. Siemssen & Co. in Hong Kong; all tied by London '47' obliterators in black. The 6 d. and two the 9 d. adhesives with cut wing margins and with manuscript '4' in red crayon for the Hong Kong share of postage. Reverse with London datestamp (Feb 26) and HONG KONG transit (April 11). Despite imperfections (incl. filing crease through one adhesive), an astonishing 6 shilling rate cover (quadruple weight) being the earliest recorded stamped cover from Great Britain to Japan whilst also bearing the largest recorded franking of the 1862 9d. adhesive. Certs. Holcombe (1987), K. Louis (2016).
Note: Kniffler & Co. of Nagasaki is believed to be the first German trading Company in Japan. It was founded by Louis Kniffler (1827-1888), who was also appointed as Vice Consul for Prussia between 1861 and 1865, and Martin Hermann Gildemeister a merchant from Bremen. The Hong Kong forwarder ‚Siemssen & Co.‘ was a German merchant company from Hamburg, founded by Georg Theodor Siemssen in 1846 in Canton and Fuzhou. The firm soon became one of the most important merchants in the early China trade, still existing today.
