1900 Sherwin colored autotype illustrations of the 1d vermilion and 2d plates numbered 76 & 77; 600 were included in the R.P.S.L. handbook on British Africa (Image)

1900 Sherwin coloured autotype illustrations of the 1d vermilion and 2d, removed from the original page from the RPSL handbook on British Africa published in 1900, very scarce, see footnote under SG40 in the SG catalogue (Image)

1911 Sherwin reprints made after the plates were presented to the Royal Philatelic Society, London, and defaced, including 1d (unissued) and 2d sheets of 12 in black, each mounted on sunken card, plus reprints from the back of the original plates printed also in black: back of One Penny Plate with advertisement in French of Hotel d'Europe in Port Louis, and back of Two Pence Plate, with similar text in English but part of the frame missing as in the original plate, both on sunken cards, only 20 sets were made, ideal for the specialist and for plating the stamps (Image)

THE FINEST 'SHERWIN' UNUSED EXAMPLE 1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 6, the extraordinary unused example, framed within four large balanced margins, uniformly crisp impression and gorgeous rich colour, with the added significance, in comparison to the few items recorded, of possessing part of the original gum, absolutely superb in every respect, undoubtedly being the finest of only six unused examples recorded in private hands, an important rarity of the British Empire, of utmost desirability (SG £225'000) Provenance: Ferrary (1923, realised FFr.41'350), Arthur Hind (1934, realised £1'000), Alfred H. Caspary (1958), Lilly (1967, $6'250), Hiroyuki Kanai (1993, Sfr. 130'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 11, unused without gum, good to ample margins, crisp impression, rejoined vertically at right along most of the left edge of the 'MAURITIUS' tablet, and center filing, still though an exceedingly rare stamp with only six unused examples recorded (SG £225'000) Expertise: Opinion Holcombe (1982) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 1, mostly clear margins, used example with barred oval cancel, repairs at top to improve the appearance of the margins, surface rubbing in the neck of the Queen, other minor faults, rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 2, used showing neat oval bars, repaired at right, small thin spot at left, rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 3, complete to good margins, strong colour, showing complete 'PAID' circular hs, three small thin spots and close tear at right, fine appearance and rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 4, touched or with clear margins, lightly cancelled by barred oval and partial "8" decimes hs, fine and rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 6, cut slightly into at left, complete to ample margins in other respects, cancelled by barred oval hs, remarkably deep colour, closed tear at left and couple of small wrinkles, rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 6, mainly large margins, with barred oval hs, most of the 'POST PAID.' tablet being repaired, horizontal crease at top and thin spot at right, rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 7, uncommonly large margins all around which are additionally balanced, infrequent light shade, good impression, cancelled by oval bars, very small thins at top, excellent appearance and rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 8, very slightly cut into at right, otherwise mainly clear margins, showing uncommon target cancel, barely noticeable tiny thin spot in centre, rare and appealing (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 9, clear or ample margins except for a tiny point in left margin, partly cancelled by barred oval hs, crease at top and small tiny spot, rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

1859 Sherwin 2d. deep blue, position 10, complete to ample margins, deep shade, showing 'GPO/MAURITIUS' cds which was very scarcely used on this stamp, negligible and small thin spot in upper left corner, fine and rare (SG £8'000) (Image)

THE UNIQUE COMBINATION COVER TO A UNIQUE DESTINATION 2d dark blue, position 6, margins clear to touching at the bottom and larger on other two sides, franked in combination with Britannia 1858-62 (9d) dull magenta, both neatly cancelled by PAID in circle on 1859 folded cover (part of backflap removed) from Port Louis via "pr Steamer to Aden & Via Southampton" to Halifax, Nova Scotia. An important Mauritius postal history rarity, only seven Sherwin covers known and this one undoubtedly unique in every respect Rate: 11d overseas letter rate. Routed through London to Liverpool and then by the Allan line "Bohemian" to Portland and on to Halifax Provenance: Dale-Lichtenstein, October 1968 (Lot 88) Hiroyuki Kanai, November 1993 (Lot 205) Vikram Chand Expertise: Cert. Peter Holcombe (1993) and David Brandon (2007) (Image)