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Click here to subscribeCHINA TRADING COMPANIES LETTER ARCHIVEGood group of nine A.L.S.s (one a retained copy) and one manuscript document, all related to the trading activities of the G.T. Smiessen Company and the Schwemann Company of Canton. Each letter is addressed to Frederick Huth & Co., a London bank, and all were sent from Canton between January 26 and October 26, 1850. The unsigned manuscript document is the earliest item present, and is dated at Shanghai, Nov. 17, 1849. It contains a partial list of goods being imported and exported between Shanghai and England; the company receives imports of various consumer goods, including "shirtings" and "woollens", and exports several varieties of raw silk and teas. It also gives loading instructions for the export goods and the exchange rate. The letters themselves, of which six are executed by G.T. Smiessen, with the balance signed "Schwemann & Co.", contain a variety of interesting content related to China and the products exported from there, with great detail on the specific state of the markets for individual goods. The writers talk of a great variety of local market factors, including the conversion of many cassia (cinnamon) plantations to tea production, due to low prices caused by a monopoly on the cassia trade, and the resulting shortfall in stocks of the spice. These regular market reports would have been of great importance to a bank such as Frederick Huth, which invested heavily in this overseas trade. Also of interest is a line in the letter dated March 28, in part: "... The Emperor of China, Taokwang, died on the 28th inst aged 70 years and after a reign of 30 years..." Each letter bears folds, with minor age toning, else very good. Smiessen & Co. was founded in Canton in 1848, trading in cassia, tea, silk and opium. It expanded to Shanghai in 1855. Schwemann & Co. appears to be operating as its own independent trading company, but in the China Directory of 1863, G.W. Schwemann is listed as an employee of Smiessen, indicating a merger.
SUB POP AND RELATED - 'M-N' - Mad collection of 18 x 7" singles. Artists/titles/cat. numbers are Mono Men - Skin And Bones (blue marbled vinyl), (The Freewheelin') Mark Arm - Masters Of War (5 copies - purple marbled, mint green, red, black and a German pressing), The Muffs (SP 157), Night Kinkgs (SP 127), Mad Daddys (SP31), The Makers, The Monkeywrench x4 inc Bottle Up And Go (pink marble and red), Monopoly Queen and Mecca Normal. Condition is very rarely under Ex+.
A mixed lot of collectors' items to include a blue leather cased bridge and auction bridge set with three score books, a cased set of "Best Embossed Draughtsmen" draughts, a Monopoly set, a group of vintage lighters, two cameras and accessories to include a boxed and leather cased Zenith Deluxe model eight section tripod, also a small collection of LP records to include ACDC, New Model Army, Bauhaus, and The Sisters of Mercy, plus a set of electroplated fiddle pattern cutlery and a roll top butter dish.
A miscellaneous collection to include a cased Chinese Kaji Pottery ceramic roundel in the form of a dragon masks with brightly painted decoration, complete with booklet together with a timber cased set of corkscrews and a selection of vintage board games to include a small 20th century boxed set of Monopoly, Waddington's Scoop!, Totopoly, Keyword, Sorry, etc
A large collection of vintage games to include dominos, Ludo, French boxwood chess pieces, resin pieces in the manner of Lund, Tiddlywinks, wooden cribbage boards, Mb Crossword, Draughts, Monopoly, Mastermind, Playing Cards by Knights Castle, Ballerina playing cards, Crown playing cards, Linette playing cards, Waddingtons playing cards new and unused in ship pictorial case, travel scrabble etc
A CIGARETTE CARD ALBUM, containing a miscellaneous and eclectic mix of American and Asian Manufacturers, including Allen & Ginter (USA), The American Cigarette Co. American Tobacco Co. (USA), British American Tobacco Co. British Cigarette Co. Ltd. (Shanghai), Monopoly Bureau of the Imperial Government of Japan, Hwaching Tobacco Co. Ltd. (Shanghai), Peninsular Tobacco Co. Ltd. (India), and San Shing Tobacco Co. Ltd. (China). A total of 183 cards