10c Green (68). Tied by unusually clear strike of "Forwarded by U.S. Consul, Kanagawa, Japan" double-oval and stars handstamp used as a cancelling device on blue front only addressed to Macondray & Co. in San Francisco, sender's directive "Pr. Colorado", red "San Francisco Cal. Sep. 14 Paid" (1867) circular datestamp applied on arrival, perfect bold "CHINA STEAM" straightline handstamp, side panels added to the address panel

EXTREMELY FINE. A RENOWNED ITEM IN UNITED STATES AND JAPANESE POSTAL HISTORY, WITH BOTH THE U.S. POST OFFICE IN KANAGAWA OVAL AND THE "CHINA STEAM" STRAIGHTLINE. THE OTHER RECORDED EXAMPLE IS IN THE MITSUI COLLECTION AT THE POSTAL MUSEUM JAPAN--THEREFORE, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE IN PRIVATE HANDS.

The Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed July 29, 1858, expanded American access to Japanese ports beyond Hakodate and Shimoda, the two named in the 1854 treaty. The additional ports were Kanagawa/Yokohama and Nagasaki (from July 4, 1859), Niigata (from January 1, 1860), and Hiogo/Kobe (from January 1, 1863). Shimoda was closed to Americans six months after the Kanagawa port was opened, and Americans were allowed to reside in Edo and Osaka for business purposes.

Col. George S. Fisher was the U.S. Consul in Yokohama when the "Forwarded by U.S. Consul, Kanagawa, Japan" handstamp was first used in 1866. Fisher's term began with his arrival in 1862 and ended on December 31, 1866. His replacement was General Julius Stahel, a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the U.S. and became a Union general in the Civil War. The U.S. Post Office at Yokohama was officially established on July 27, 1867, with the appointment of Stahel as postmaster.

The oval handstamp's first period of use started January 1, 1866. It was applied by Fisher as a forwarding mark on mail sent through the U.S. Consulate (see lot 2076). The device survived the great fire in Kanagawa on November 26, 1866, which destroyed the U.S. Consulate building, furnishings and all of Fisher's personal effects. The second period was from August to December 1867, when it was applied by Stahel as a cancelling device or postmark on mail sent through the U.S. post office. Unlike the 1866 covers, the Kanagawa oval's function on the August 1867 and later covers was to cancel the stamps or indicate the post office origin, not to identify the forwarding agent.

This address panel--to simplify the discussion, it is referred to here as a cover--was carried from Yokohama to San Francisco on the third eastbound (return) trip of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Colorado, the same journey that carried the postal agreement between the U.S. and Hong Kong. This was the first trip after the U.S. Consulate in Yokohama was designated an official postal agency. The Colorado departed Yokohama August 24, 1867, and arrived at San Francisco September 14.

The five covers from the August 24, 1867, trip with U.S. stamps cancelled by the Kanagawa oval are:

1 -- 10c No. 68, to Macondray & Co., SF Sep. 14 (1867), "CHINA STEAM", ex Ishikawa, offered here

2 -- 10c No. 68, to Macondray & Co., SF Sep. 14 (1867), "CHINA STEAM", Mitsui (Postal Museum Japan)

3 -- 10c No. 68 five, to Milan, Italy, SF Sep. 14 (1867), via NY and France, Frajola-Perlman-Scamp p. 130

4 -- 5c No. 76 pair, to Boston, SF Sep. 15 (1867), Mitsui (Postal Museum Japan)

5 -- 2c No. 73, Jun. 27, 1867, circular to Macondray & Co., no SF markings, ex Faust (Sale 1181, lot 1631)

Only two of the five above have the "CHINA STEAM" straightline handstamp, and only one is in private hands. They are the cover offered here (no. 1 above) and a nearly identical cover (no. 2, a front with one panel), illustrated in the Riddell pamphlet and formerly in the Baron Mitsui Takaharu collection, now part of the Postal Museum Japan. Following the five listed above (from the August 24 trip) are three other stamped covers with the Kanagawa oval: a 10c 1861 cover carried on the October 25 trip (PMSS Great Republic) and two covers carried on the December 6 trip (PMSS China), each with two 5c 1863 stamps. In total, there are eight stamped covers with the Kanagawa oval, including two in the Postal Museum Japan, leaving six available to collectors.

Illustrated in Frajola-Perlman-Scamp book (p. 130).

Ex Ryohei Ishikawa.

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