Sale #48 - Hong Kong & Treaty Ports

Treaty Ports, Canton : 1792 (14 Dec.) entire letter from Charles de Constant de Rebecque, Canton to "the Commanding Officer on board l'Etrusco, Wampoa" carried privately, with letter describing a shipment of sugar to the "l'Etrusco", Chinese-language docketing, small piece of side panel removed and couple trivial filing punch holes, a very fine and rare very early letter from Canton. From the Dr. Bruce J. Lewin collection.
Estimate HK$ 15,000 - 20,000
Charles de Constant de Rebecque was a Swiss traveler and merchant, known for his three voyages to Macao and Canton between 1779 and 1793, which earned him the name "le Chinois." De Constant invested, together with Home Riggs Popham and Jean Baptiste Piron, commercial agent for the French Republic, £50,000 in cargo to be carried on Popham's ship "l'Etrusco" from China to Ostend. On arrival at Ostend the "l'Etrusco" was seized by an English frigate as a prize for Popham's contravention of the East India Company's trading monopoly and towed to England. After a lengthy court case, Popham received compensation of £20,000. De Constant's journals and letters, which are in the Bibliotheque de Geneve, record his observations on China and details of his trading activities, including his promotion of European watchmaking in China. Popham is remembered for inventions in the field of telegraphic signals.