Dear Bruno,
The seals that you refer to are dated "53" on the bottom which implies that the seals were made in 1896. However, the earliest covers with which I am aware are from 1897. I have an example from the Kuti court dated September 1897 and from the Kerong court dated November 1897. From my experience any covers showing dates prior to 1901 are particularly scarce. These two courts remained opened until the 1950's. I have a Kuti cover showing the court seal dated May 1956 and from Kerong dated January 1958. It can be assumed that the courts were shut down no later than the complete Communist take over of Tibet in 1959. Most of the court mail with which I am familiar seems to fall between 1902 and 1910. Post 1940 court mail seems to be particularly scarce. There was also a thrid court at Khasa, Tibet, which apparently operated between 1895 and 1896. It is assumed to have shut down when the other two opened. There are no known official court seals used on mail from Khasa. Its mail was verified by the personal seals of the court officials. Khasa covers are extremely rare. I have only a single example in my collection. The Kuti and Kerong seals were also used on court documents and as a from of letterhead on court letters. I have examples of the Kuti seal impressed in red ink on court documents. Hopefully, you will find this information useful.
If anyone has any court covers from before or after the ones I refer to above, I would be appreciative knowing their dates of use.
Best regards, Ed Gosnell
------------- Ed Gosnell
|