Lot 3156
German East Africa 1850 (Feb.) folded letter from Zonzibar to Willaim Oswald & Co., Hamburg (10.6) via Marseille (5.6), showing Arabic forwarding endorsement in manuscript and framed "Forwarded/by/Rabaud Brothers & Co./Marseilles" handstamp in blue, rated "6" (s.gr.), Very Fine early letter.
Estimate 6,000 - 8,000
Provenance: Schrey, Siebentritt, Vollmer
Zanzibar was the principal location for the slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and India, until the European nations finally brought an end to this practice in 1873. The Americans had opened a consulate in Zanzibar in 1847. In 1839, a commercial treaty was signed with Great Britain which established a consulate in Zanzibar in 1841.
By 1847, two American and one French company, as well as the German company, Hertz had branches there. Trade between Zanzibar and Europe was conducted by ship, and it took the ships 100 days to reach Hamburg sailing via the Cape.
Oswald had trade relations with the Sultan since 1847 and opened an agency in Zanzibar in 1849. They dealt in spices and Kauri shells, which were a sort of money widely used in Africa.
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| Realized $10,500 |
