Enkakushi - Genuine and forgery

 

300 copies of genuine Enkakushi were produced in Japan for diplomatic use ... most residual copies were destroyed in fire that followed 1923 Earthquake. the enkakushi depicted all genuine japanese stamps to date of issue. Kristian Wilhelmsen noted that special plates were made for 1871 dragons as supplies were exhausted, and withdrawn prior to 1896. so these are the rarest of dragons ... I term these "laughing buddhas" ... the negative image speeds plating in 8x5 matrix. , Wada Kotaro followed with a facsimile edition... ISJP Index to JP, reports dates of 1896.3 for genuine and 1896.10 for forgery editions... Wada not having produced any koban forgeries of his own, thereby recruited and included the Maeda series unused in his compilation... fewer copies exist today of imitation enkakushi, than genuine - seldom seen at auction - both command high realised values... the fact that some genuine postal stationery was included in the facsimile enkakushi, forced the IJPO to seize and destroy most ...