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French Offices

Lot 227

160.00 CAD

Sold

Offices in China, 1900 (August 18), 2nd Brigade military cover from the French Expeditionary Forces in China to Lyon, France, struck with

Offices in China, 1900 (August 18), 2nd Brigade military cover from the French Expeditionary Forces in China to Lyon, France, struck with violet four-line unit cachet CORPS EXPÉDITIONNAIRE / DE CHINE / 2e BRIGADE / RÉGIMENT D'INFRIE DE MARCHE, alongside black double-circle maritime strike CORPS EXPED. DE MADAGASCAR – L.V. No. 2 ("18 AOUT 00") and Lyon arrival c.d.s. (29 Sep), worn edges, back bottom flap removed, tiny edge piece missing at bottom front, scarce. Posted in the weeks following the relief of the Peking legations, this cover bears a maritime agent's handstamp originally assigned to the Madagascar expeditionary corps; with new China-designated devices not yet issued to the fleet, agents on the Ligne V route (Yokohama–Marseille) continued using their existing Madagascar equipment. Troops from Madagascaer were the first French force to reach China after the Boxer Uprising

Lot 228

190.00 CAD

Sold

Offices in China, 1903 (December 2), 3rd Army Corps military cover, Tientsin to Paris, franked with 15c Rights of Man, tied by

Offices in China, 1903 (December 2), 3rd Army Corps military cover, Tientsin to Paris, franked with 15c Rights of Man, tied by Tientsin Chine / Poste Francaise c.d.s., endorsed in red "Voie Siberienne", sender's return address with the 16th Colonial Infantry, struck in black "CORRES CES D'ARMEES", reverse with c.d.s. arrival backstamp, vertical fold, some light edge imperfections, fine-very fine

Lot 229

90.00 CAD

Sold

Offices in China, 1934 (February 14), French naval cover to the ship "Ville d'Ys" at Shanghai, struck with circular unit cachet FORCES

Offices in China, 1934 (February 14), French naval cover to the ship "Ville d'Ys" at Shanghai, struck with circular unit cachet FORCES NAVALES D'EXTRÊME-ORIENT / FRANCHISE MILITAIRE and octagonal maritime TPO strike KOBE A MARSEILLE / No. 1 (4 Mar), enclosing full two-page letter on "Dumont D'Urville" stationery datelined "En mer le 14 Février 1934," addressed "Aviso 'Ville d'Ys", quite fresh, fine-very fine and scarce. The enclosed letter from Guillaume Le Bigot, later ministerial delegate for the Navy, to Émile Piquet describes a "magnificent tour" of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, contrasting the freedom of those "oceanic natures" with conditions in China, where French sailors lived "locked in concessions by the force of things," and recounts internal frictions aboard ship, including a second-in-command who "disorganized the services" and "sowed discord."

Lot 230

160.00 CAD

Sold

Offices in China, 1935 (September 14), Kagoshima, Japan, to Soul-Moussel, France, naval postcard depicting the "Site of Tsurumaru Castle,"

Offices in China, 1935 (September 14), Kagoshima, Japan, to Soul-Moussel, France, naval postcard depicting the "Site of Tsurumaru Castle," struck with large violet framed cachet "14 Septembre 1935 / FRANCHISE MILITAIRE / DES FORCES NAVALES D'EXTRÊME-ORIENT" with manuscript origin "De Kagoshima," violet boxed VIA TRANSSIBERIEN instruction, and circular MARINE FRANÇAISE / SERVICE A LA MER cachet, some typical edge wear, else fine. Sent under military free-post privilege by a member of the French Naval Forces in the Far East during a visit to Japan, the card was routed via the Trans-Siberian Railway rather than by sea

Lot 231

150.00 CAD

Live

Offices in China, 1935 (November 18), Yangtze River gunboat Balny to St. Pierre, Ile d'Oléron, France, cover struck with violet circular

Offices in China, 1935 (November 18), Yangtze River gunboat Balny to St. Pierre, Ile d'Oléron, France, cover struck with violet circular cachet MARINE FRANÇAISE / SERVICE A LA MER and two-line unit cachet CANONNIÈRE FLUVIALE "BALNY," reverse with large three-line violet cachet FORCES NAVALES EN EXTRÊME-ORIENT / FLOTTILLE DU YANG-TSI-KIANG / CANONNIÈRE FLUVIALE "BALNY" and St. Pierre arrival c.d.s. ("8-12-35"), some staining along edges, but a scarce example of mail from this French gunboat. The Balny was one of the longer-serving French gunboats on the Yangtze, in service with the flotilla from 1930 until the French withdrawal from China in 1943; mail from these river gunboat units is scarce