Curiosities
This page of curious and sundry markings is just that. One of these took a life of its own and now has a page of its very own in the ► javabs section. Here are some others:
What is the large circle cutting the stamp in native character? It is not the large Srinagar seal. The square obliterator is the Baramulla type. There was once an early runner line, most active in the winter months, when mail was run via Baramulla and Poonch (ref. Raina). That suggests a rare Poonch marking here, but an authority on the subject suspects it is not such.
What, pray, is the point of that cover annotation in red that is seen on many a cover? It comes usually in red from one hand, thereby evoking the name Masson. The more careful renderings look like ‘nil,’ and I would swear it is not a tricky bit of nastaliq. The covers (all J&K?) span a goodly stretch of years: the earliest we know of is April 1866, early indeed. The latest for us happens to be 1886 so far. That two-decade duration, coupled with the fact that the notation appears on covers originating in both Jammu and Srinagar, certainly suggests a collector’s marking, not a postal marking. But they often come in pencil too, and these from a greater variety of hands. And there’s the greater curiosity. Did Masson have an occasional helper-elf doing such vital chores for him? Some of the items are major rarities, such as a “sugar wove” cover, and a mere bisect or two.
That the marking is not postal is made clear from the preceding scan. It is a thin, almost transparent piece, yet the notation appears on both sides, and these in what look to be different hands at presumably different times. What for, just what for?
And then there is that quaint BL or LB monogram that also appears from time
to time on covers from all periods in violet ink. An enclosing circle is sometimes
partially visible. One strong clue that it is a personal seal-of-possession by an
collector of yore comes from a cover for which the impression is located partially
under the opened envelope flap. Even if the happy stamper was a bit vandal,
he was one of evident resources and chutzpah, for the seal appears on several notable rarities.
In this it bears similarity to the red mil. I never had the presence of mind
to notice whether the two ever appear on the same cover.
For a time we conjectured that this might have been from Masson’s
Bank of Lahore, but seems not. That obviously
leaves only Ludwig of Bavaria or the worthy
Bird-watchers of Lausanne.
Here is a little early oddity on piece with a “Compagnie des Indes, Kashmyr, [Maison] Verde-Delisle & Cie” seal. Delisle frères received the Legion of Honor and other medals for their celebrated lace manufacture, which was exhibited at the Paris Exposition in December 1867. The Kashmir ¼a black watercolor was extant since the summer of that year, so we like to suppose this item was somehow in aid of their show. But why were they in the postal obliteration business too? Is it tantamount to a perfin? Perfins proper were invented only the following year in Britain.
Overprinted “SPECIMEN”
A 4a ‘ochre’ oilcolor circular reprint in the Haverbeck Sale 1298 is known overprinted in black with SPECIMEN in san-serif lettering.
A ¼a forgery with a mirror-reversed SPECIMEN overprint obscured by an obliteration, presumably on purpose. The design of the stamp is variously wrong. A multidimensional zany in the Lunn collection.