Peter Ashford collection 3: Rokhlin family correspondence

In Part Three of Imperial Stamps Used in Transcaucasia, published in 1978, Peter Ashford lists the cancellations of  BYELYI KLYUCH - a place which he describes as a "hill resort .... where many well-to-do Tiflissians sought to escape the oppressive heat of July and August" (page 159). He goes on to list a Type 5 cancellation and records its use only in the Independence period, on a 7 kop Letter card to which a 60 kop Georgian stamp has been added. Here is that card (click on images to magnify):

This is an item of Rokhlin family correspondence, and Serge Rokhlin's Romeko partner, Arnold Meckel [ or maybe his son; but the name MECKEL provides the - ME of Ro - Me - Ko[mpanie]] has provided an English translation for Peter Ashford. 

Philatelically, the card shows early use of the St George 60 kopeck - on white paper (from the first printing) and imperforate (the imperforate stamps were issued first). Glue has been used to stick the stamp to the card which is a little surprising since these first printing stamps are normally gummed (with clear white gum). Maybe the gum was so clear that it was invisible!

Peter Ashford collection 2: Georgia Essays

The postal authorities of the Menshevik government of Georgia (1918 - 21) did operate an effective mail service, both domestically and internationally. It is not hard to create a postal history collection for this period though few collectors try to do so.

But the authorities also produced a great deal of philatelic material for sale to the stamp trade and collectors. This included Proofs, Colour Trials, Printer's Waste [Makulatur], and the well-known range of  "Freak" varieties on the St George and Tamara issues. Most of these are not difficult to obtain and are not very expensive.

However, this is not true of the Essay for the unissued 10 rouble Tamara. Collectors quite often ask me if I can supply an example, and I have always had to say "No - I've never seen one". Now I have and illustrate below the group which was in the Peter Ashford collection.

Click on the Image to magnify, and you will see that Ashford gives an account based on information from "S.Rokhlin" -  the "Ro..." half of "Romeko". All five examples have the house mark of MAISON ROMEKO PARIS.

Rokhlin lived in Tiflis until early 1921 when he left for Constantinople. He was already philatelically active.

He claims that for each colour of these Trials just one block of 10 (5 x 2) was produced. This does not seem likely given the very large quantities of other material produced. However, these stamps - the examples here are on thin card / thick paper - are undoubtedly rare and it is possible that Rokhlin had a monopoly on them. I wonder if any of my Readers have copies?

Maison Romeko

Click on Image to Magnify

When you start collecting Russian stamps and postal history, you soon discover Maison Romeko. It was the creation of Serge / Sergei Rockling [ various spellings] and [...] Meckel. (ROckling MEckel KOmpanie)

About Meckel I can find little information. There was an Arnold Meckel who lived in France and occasionally contributed to philatelic journals in the 1970s and this may have been Meckel's  son. But it could have been the original Meckel. Google throws up a lot of information about an Arnold Meckel who was based in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, but this Meckel was an Impressario with strong connections to Argentina. Maybe this Meckel provided the finance for Maison Romeko?

Whatever the details, it is clear that Rockling was the driving force of Maison Romeko. He was born in Tiflis in the 1890s and left when the Bolsheviks arrived in 1921. He went to Constantinople and, according to several sources, was part of the Sredinsky - Rosselevich  - group which produced dubious issues for the stamp trade: the Georgia Consular overprints, the Refugee Post stamps, the Levant "Ship" phantasies (which like the Refugee Post stamps appear to have been printed at the V M [ Y]essayan works).

Like Sredinsky, Rockling moved to Paris and from the first letter shown above was already installed in the rue Bucharest in 1924. But whereas Sredinsky made his money from reprinting Refugee Post stamps in Paris, Rockling clearly set out to establish himself as a serious and reliable dealer. When sheets of stamps came into stock, he would often pencil in the corner of the sheet the word "Bon" with his initials - and his "Bon" is almost always correct. Likewise,his famous oval house mark "Maison Romeko Paris" is only rarely found on fakes - and then it seems to be a case of human error rather than intent to deceive.

According to Dr Ceresa, Rockling was a major purchaser of Civil War period stamps when the Soviets cleared out their stocks in the 1930s. His purchases included early Soviet Armenia - and this may explain the second letter shown above, addressed to an Armenian in New York. The printed address shows that the Romeko shop was still in the rue Bucharest.

At some point, the Romeko shop moved to 41 rue des Martyrs in the 9th Arrondissement (the stamp District which includes the rue Drouot). It was there in 1962. I have a date of death of 1975 for Rockling.

It seems likely that his business was disrupted by the War - I think the family may have been Jewish but this guess is based only on the names of another family member (Zachary Yakovlevich) which appear on 1921 philatelic covers with  the doubtful  De Jure overprints