Lot 1720

1840 (29 Jul) Macao Letter sent to Yorkshire, England during the beginning of the First Opium War. Boxed handstamp of “INDIA LETTER / SOUTHAMPTON”, carried by vessel Mor., with rate mark of “8” charged 8p to the recipient. The letter mentioned the trade of tea including the export of 29 chests Congo (per ship Harburger) and 14.5 chests TwanKay (per ship Earl Balcarras). Despite some interruptions and trade barriers occurred over the height time of the First Opium War period, the trade and export actually continued at the time. Congo was obviously more expensive than TwanKay. Congo was an anglicized version of the Chinese工夫茶 (gōngfu chá). TwanKay was a type of green tea, which the name is derived from a transliteration of Tunxi (屯溪), a tea-trading town in Anhui province. 8p was a standard rate charged to ship letters from both India and China, and the rate was changed from Jan 1840. Therefore, it explained even the letter sent from Macao, China, it carried an INDIA Ship Letter handstamp.

1840年7月29日澳門寄往英國約克郡信函，加蓋”INDIA LETTER / SOUTHAMPTON”方框戳，經”Mor.”號船運送，收件人支付8便士郵資。內容提及戰爭期間持續的茶葉貿易：29箱工夫茶（“Harburger”號承運）與14.5箱屯溪綠茶（“Earl Balcarras”號承運）。按1840年新郵政費率，中印船郵統一收取8便士，故雖從澳門寄出仍加蓋印度船郵戳記。