Italy, Italian States and Colonies Missions, Post Offices and Postal History Abroad China » The San Mun Bay Quarrel
Sale No: 22JE
Lot No: 20507
Symbol: F
Cat No: 33
1899 (April 30) CIP 1c postal stationery card to Bologna sent by an official of the "R. N. Elba" torpedo boat, posted at the Chefoo Chinese P.O., with previous application of China 1898 1c & 2c to pay the internal postage to Shanghai, tied by Large Dollar cds's on dispatch, Shanghai bilingual transit at top on 2 May, entering the British P.O. in Hong Kong with 1884 2c pair paying the foreign rate, tied by rare framed "I.P.O." hs and small Shanghai cds (6 May), with arrival cds tying part of the franking; very interesting contents including "...we need to show the teeth to this Chinese filths, who by love or by force will ceed San Mun (...) in a few hours together with the Marco Polo we will head for Shanghai leaving this harbour"; usual corner imperfections. The only known Chinese Imperial Post mixed franking directly related to the San Mun Bay Quarrel.
Note: As a result of the diplomatic involvement of some Great Powers in the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War, China was forced to pay back with some "concessions". In 1898 Italy tried to get involved in this process by claiming the jurisdiction of the San Mun Bay for commercial purposes, but it was rejected by the Chinese as Italy had not been involved in the Sino-Japanese diplomatic negotiations. The Italian Government sent an ultimatum to China which was not taken into consideration, and Italy reacted by sending the "Marco Polo" and "Elba" battleships to occupy the Bay in an attempt to force the Chinese Government to cede this area. Despite the pressure, China did not change its position. All this occurred only between March and April 1899, and the extremely rare existing correspondence was entrusted to local or foreign post offices. (Image)
Opening EUR 1,000.00
Sold...EUR 800.00
Closed..Jun-13-2022, 11:59:00 EST
Sold For 800
Sale No: 22JE
Lot No: 20510
Symbol: F
Cat No: Sassone 61
1899 (May 16) Envelope sent unfranked from Shanghai, sent to Venice through Italian naval mail as confirmed by "Ra NAVE ELBA" cds, entering the Italian soil at Brindisi with application of 1891-96 20c tied in transit, taxed on delivery with postage due 40c, tied by Venice cds; very interesting full contents including "In Italy they have to be persuaded by something, and this is that China is a country with 400 million inhabitants and not the San Marino Republic, that this country does not fear us because it is not easy to beat it and that the greatest nonsense to be done is to occupy by the force -today after having wasted three months- the San Mun Bay. If this must be our objective, we will not even find a junk which will oppose us but basically we will not have obtained anything". An extremely rare correspondence during the San Mun Bay Quarrel, with most of the existing items being gathered in this collection, in this case showing a different usage by being forwarded through the Italian naval mail. (Image)
Opening EUR 800.00
Sold...EUR 800.00
Closed..Jun-13-2022, 11:59:00 EST
Sold For 800
Sale No: 22JE
Lot No: 20511
Symbol: F
Cat No: Sassone 60
1899 (Nov 26) Postcard from Amoy to Venice, franked by Umberto 10c tied by "R. NAVE C. ALBERTO" cds, repeated alongside, faintly tied in addition by arrival ds; during the Sun Man Bay quarrel, the "Carlo Alberto" and the "Liguria" replaced the "Marco Polo", "Stromboli", "Etna" and "Piemonte", which were withdrawn in August and November 1899, and the "Carlo Alberto" became the new flagship of the small fleet of three ships (together with the "Elba"). An extremely rare mail, with no additional examples so far recorded from this ship during the incident of San Mun Bay. (Image)
