THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES FAMILY THE GAUR THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES 22ND MAY 2019 THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES FAMILY THE GAUR THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES 22ND MAY 2019 STANLEY GIBBONS AUCTIONS LONDON THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES HELD AT STANLEY GIBBONS, LONDON WEDNESDAY MAY 22nd 2019 10:00AM 399 STRAND, LONDON, WC2R 0LX. UNITED KINGDOM www.stanleygibbons.com PUBLIC VIEWING AT 399 STRAND Monday 29th April 09:30 – 17:00 Tuesday 30th April 09:30 – 17:00 Wednesday 1st May 09:30 – 17:00 Thursday 2nd May 09:30 – 17:00 Friday 3rd May 09:30 – 17:00 Saturday 4th May 10:00 – 15:00 Friday 17th May 09:30 – 17:00 Monday 20th May 09:30 – 17:00 Tuesday 21st May 09:30 – 12:00 PRIVATE VIEWING MAY BE AVAILABLE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY PLEASE TELEPHONE +44(0)207 557 4458 OR EMAIL [email protected] EVENING RECEPTION RSVP TO [email protected] TUESDAY MAY 21st from 17:30 Drinks and canapés will be served An evening with Umesh Gaur and Stanley Gibbons specialists. View items and hear more about this spectacular collection FOREWORD The origins of the Gaur family collection can probably be traced back to the late 19th century, although most of what is offered in the present catalogue was assembled during the last 15 years or so. The praiseworthy aim was to achieve a fair degree of completion in the stamp issues of the whole subcontinent, from 1852 to c.1950, and crucially including those of the Convention and Feudatory States. The result is a highly diverse and attractive collection, and we have been happy to include introductory text and illustrations provided by the owner for each of the many sections. We hope that this mode of presentation will be appreciated and encourage wider interest. The highlight of the India section is certainly the stunning ‘ex Ferrary’ unused 1854-55 4a.blue and red, second printing, an enormous example with virtually complete wavy lines and rosettes. But a decent trio of Scinde Dawks, and three examples of the famous unissued 1854 ½a ‘9½ arches’, one being corner marginal, also deserve an honourable mention. Indian Convention States features that tremendous rarity Patiala SG O3, unused with part o.g. This is far and away the rarest basic stamp in the series, and seldom appears on the market. mong the fine range of ndian eudator States are to e found several of the lassi rarities, suh as the harhari and Duttia first issues, hile ussahir S 1 is argual even rarer, although it has et to ahieve the same status and fame. King George VI period collectors will be impressed by a raft of elusive items, including Charkhari SG 56 and an excellent group of Cochin, including SG 80, 85b, O56c and the excessively rare SG O67a. In fact most States are quite well represented with Bamra SG 1, Barwani SG 35aB, Bhopal SG 98a, useful Jaipur, Kishangarh SG 3, 4 and 52 and a splendid selection of Jammu and Kashmir primitives, to name but a few. Five scarce covers from Dungarpur – a state whose very existence was unknown to collectors until the late 1960s – also catch the attention. The Philately of India and the Indian States has probably never been more popular than it is today, thanks to the tremendous growth in the Indian economy over the past generation, and the ‘Gaur’ sale is likely to excite strong competition, which may well see new price levels established. Of particular importance for buyers is the fact that the majorit of the e single items are suorted eert ommittee ertifiates Dr Philip Kinns Emeritus Director of Philately WWW.STANLEYGIBBONS.COM/AUCTIONS THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION Professor Harish C. Gaur, Umesh Gaur, University of Illinois, 1956 Delhi Public School, 1961 6 THE GAUR FAMILY COLLECTION OF INDIA & INDIAN STATES UMESH GAUR The Gaur family collection of India and Indian states was started by Professor Harish C. Gaur (1925-2016). Professor Gaur was born in the village of Gokalgarh in the state of Haryana in a very modest household. There was no school in the village, but his hard work and desire to aim high made him the first person from his village to pursue higher education leading up to a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He eventually retired as the Dean of Science Faculty at the University of Delhi. Professor Gaur was also amongst the first wave of young researchers to travel to the US for post-doctoral training in 1955. During this time in America at the University of Illinois, he started collecting stamps and he continued this hobby upon his return to India. As an eminent scientist of India, he had an opportunity to travel extensively around the world to attend scientific meetings and as a visiting professor to many Universities, which helped him put together a collection of worldwide stamps. In the 1960s, his young son Umesh Gaur also got interested in stamps. Umesh also followed on his father’s footsteps to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry in America in 1974. While he was a graduate student, in 1978 he acquired a collection of Indian stamps in a Scott album at a local church auction. This turned the focus of the Gaur family collection on India and Indian states. But it would not be for another twenty-five years until Umesh was a financial advisor that Umesh would start adding to the family collection with a new focus on India. In 1990s, Umesh started to collect modern and contemporary India art, contemporary Indian photography and Indian folk and tribal paintings. This collection has grown to be one of the largest and finest collections of its kind. Paintings from collection have been shown in many museums across America and the collection was included in 2004 and 2007 lists of “Top 100 Collections in America” in Arts and Antiques magazine. Umesh also has a collection of wines with emphasis on Bordeaux wines from France. Fifteen years ago, Umesh returned to stamp collecting. He brought the collecting expertise and discipline that he had acquired while building other collections, now to Indian stamps. During this time, he was able to complete most of the blanks in his encyclopaedic collection by acquiring some very rare items as the auction market for Indian stamps had rapidly expanded during this time. It is worthwhile noting that Harish’s grandfather and Umesh’s great- grandfather Mr. Nathu Ram (1869-1934) was a postmaster of Gokalgarh. When the family was emptying out the Gaur ancestral homes in village for sale, because the entire family had moved to Delhi, an envelope containing Queen Victoria stamps was found among other family valuables. Since these stamps were no longer issued after 1902, it implies that the seeds of the Gaur family stamp collection were implanted much earlier, perhaps in late 1800s. INDIA THE POST IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA e history of India’s postal system goes back several millennia. e Atharvaveda, one of the oldest books in the world written around 1000 BC, has several references to messenger services. In ancient times messenger services were primarily used by Indian rulers to convey and obtain information. is was accomplished through runners, messengers and in some cases even through pigeons. e chief of this service was known as the Daakpaal (postmaster). He maintained the lines of communication. e Sultan of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, created the rst elaborate messenger post system in 1208 for the purposes of gathering information and wartime news. Human runners were used to transmit messages. Runners carrying mail and messages ran from one village or relay post to the next. It was a dangerous occupation. ese runners worked day and night, vulnerable to attacks by bandits and wild animals, especially tigers. A major expansion to the runner system was undertaken by Alauddin Khalji in 1296. He is credited with the establishment of a network of dak chowkis (mail rest houses), for the safety of runners and to provide a designated place for runners to hand over the mail to other runners and for them to rest between long runs. Sher Shah Suri (1541–1545) further provided horses for runners and built 1700 serais (rest houses for runners as well as travellers) along the northern Indian high road, today known as the Grand Trunk Road, which he constructed between Bengal and Sindh. During the early periods of the Moghul empire (1526 to about 1600), the speed and the eciency of the courier system was greatly improved. is was much needed to allow communication across the Moghul empire, which had expanded over most of the Indian subcontinent during the rule of Emperor Akbar. Many new roads were built and watch towers were constructed along the routes. Plenty of horses were provided to all dak chowkis and the use of camels was introduced to transport mail in addition to the horses and runners. Although the mail courier system was mainly developed for the rulers of India, it was subsequently used by merchants for trade purposes. Eventually mail runners also came to be in use for the carriage of private mail. POSTS AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY Aer the East India Company was formed on 13th December 1660, its business grew very rapidly all over India. In order to communicate with factories and trading oces all over the country, the company needed an ecient postal service. To improve the existing systems, in 1688 a post oce was opened in Bombay followed by similar ones in Calcutta and Madras.