UNIQUE Ex KANAI ALBUM PAGES MAURITIUS SHERWIN 1d 2d DEFACED REPRINT SHEETS 1/20
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:10775972 | Country/Region of Manufacture: Mauritius |
| Era: Victoria (1840-1901) | Type: Reprinted sheets |
Theseare four original album pages from Hiroyuki Kanai’s famouscollection of Mauritius rarities. They are unique and irreplaceable; each page bears his own hand-written notes, his blue handstamp inthe lower-right corner, and his name & address label on thereverse.Twoof the pages contain Mr Kanai’s personal copies of the one pennyand two pence Sherwin reprinted sheets, made by the Royal PhilatelicSociety in 1911 after defacing the plates to prevent fraud. Reputedly only 20 sets ...were made, as stated in David Feldman’s 1993catalogue when he sold the Kanai collection. The other two pagescontain prints from the reverse side of the plates, which wereoriginally engraved with adverts for the Grand Hotel d’Europe inPort Louis – one in English, the other in French. The sheets areall in good vintage condition, with a few light creases here &there and a little age-related toning.Thefour sides of the two plates were illustrated in Mr Kanai’s 1981reference book “Classic Mauritius”. He does not say how manyreprints of the adverts were made, and I have been unable to find anyinformation about this. The July 1911 edition of "The London philatelisPerhaps one pair of adverts originallyaccompanied each pair of Sherwin reprint sheets ; but I have seen twosales of the stamp sheets in recent years without any accompanyingadverts, so they may be even rarer.Thesealbum pages were originally sold as lot 213 in the David Feldman 1993auction of Mr Kanai’s collection, although the photos werecropped and do not show the Kanai personal details. The winning bidwas 15, 000 Swiss francs before buyer’s premium, as shown in my scanof the prices-realised sheet. The British Commonwealth specialist at David Feldman has seen my photos ofthese four album pages and confirmed that they are all genuine andare the same original Kanai items which they auctioned in 1993. Thewinning bidder will receive a copy of the Feldman e-mail to me inwhich they verified these items.Ebaypolicy prevents me giving a hyperlink to the 1993 Kanai auctioncatalogue, but if you do a Google search using the words “1993Feldman Kanai auction” it will be the first hit you see, linked toa pdf file on David Feldman’s website.Backgroundto the Sherwin platesEvidentlythe Mauritius printer was into recycling, as he turned over two ofhis old printing plates and re-used them by engraving the famous 1848Post Paid stamps on the backs. The plates eroded over the next 10 years, causingthe well-known 5 states of wear recognised by collectors ; and thenext Lapirot issue also eroded very quickly and became unfit for use. As a quick solution, Mr Sherwin was employed to re-engrave the Post Paid plates to eliminate the wear (and the famous PENOE error)and create a “new” 1859 version. The one penny value was neverissued. My final two photos are scans from the Feldman auctionsupplement, confirming this history of the plate.MrKanai’s book explains the later events thus :“It wasnot until the early part of (the 20th)century that these plates re-emerged. While Sir Cavendish Boyle, Governor of Mauritius 1904-11, was in the island he found the twooriginal plates … On his return home he presented the plates, whichhe had taken with him without authority from the island, to KingGeorge V. The King, who was a famous philatelisthimself, made a donation of these items of great philatelic interestto the Royal Philatelic Society, London, on 15 June 1911. The plateshave been scratched on their printing surfaces with vertical lines asdefacement. At the time a few sheets were printed for the Society’scollection. “Thewinning bidder will receive photocopies of the whole Sherwin chapterfrom Mr Kanai’s book, containing this account plus photos of theoriginal plates.I have recently obtained a pdf copy of the July 1911 edition of "The London Philatelist", which contains the RPS's account of these events, including a less critical version of the Governor's actions : "(The plates) were found by an official in a cellar at the Government offices shortly before Sir Cavendish Boyle left Mauritius for England, and would have been destroyed but for his timely thought of bringing them home to be offered to the King". It also states that the defacement of the plates was at the King's request, and that after the presentation to the Society, "a few impressions on card in black will be printed off for the Society's collections". They refer to the adverts engraved on the backs of the plates, but there is no mention of reprinting the adverts. Myphotos are part of the description. Please ask any questions beforebidding.PostageUKbuyers - £6towards the cost of fully insured next-day Special Delivery.Internationalbuyers : £40towards the cost of DHL Express courier delivery. It will cost me alot more. Ido not ship to Brazil or Canada due to excessive Customs/postaldelays.PaymentIaccept payment by PayPal, personal cheque or electronic banktransfer. Cheques and bank transfers must clear before shipping.ReturnsIwill give a full refund if there is any significant misdescription.Duty& taxesImportduties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price orpostage cost. These charges are the buyer's legal responsibility topay. Please check with your country's Customs office to find outwhat these extra costs will be, before bidding. These charges arenormally collected by the delivering freight company, but they arenot additional shipping charges. Please note that I will not declarea false Customs value – doing so is a crime.
