Sale 68 The Jane and Dan Sten Olsson Collection of Large Dragons Sale 3

China, 1883-85 Large Dragon thick paper 1ca. bright green, rough perfs., Setting VI, the magnificent complete sheet of twenty with selvedge all round, bright colour, and excellent state of conservation, fine unused with much original gum, defects in selvedge at top and faint tropicalised spots on gum. A great rarity in this complete sheet format. Chan 10.
Estimate 800,000 - 1,000,000

Expertisation: Signed SEB (Sven-Eric Beckeman).

Provenance: "Nordenfelt Find", Corinphila (Zurich), 30.10.1992, lot 5186
Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman, Sotheby's and Corinphila (Hong Kong), 7.10.1997, lot C22.

THE ONLY RECORDED COMPLETE SHEET FROM SETTING VI WITH SELVEDGE ALL ROUND.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO COMPLETE SHEETS OF THE 1 CANDARIN IN THE FORMAT OF TWENTY (4 X 5) WITH SELVEDGE ALL ROUND RECORDED. THE OTHER IS 1883 THICK PAPER, SETTING V, CLEAN-CUT PERFS. (EX GEORGE WORTHINGTON, E.H. FINEGAN, SIR PERCIVAL DAVID, PAUL HOCK, PHILIP IRELAND, AND ANNA-LISA AND SVEN-ERIC BECKEMAN).

This unique sheet emanates from the famous "Nordenfelt Find", which comprised the philatelic holdings of a Norwegian naval officer and former Customs official. This find, which surfaced in the early 1990's, included hitherto unknown complete sheets of the 1883-85 thick paper 1 candarin, 3 candarins and 5 candarins in the rare format of twenty stamps and all with complete selvedge. All three sheets were acquired by Anna-Lisa and Sven-Eric Beckeman.