Ventes en Denrées Coloniales ...

£550 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

An unrecorded handbill advertising the sale of imported French plantation-produced commodities in Bordeaux, between 20 and 23 November 1809. These include sugar, indigo and coffee, with the majority of the items on the list described alongside their country of origin: “indigo Bengale … café Martinique … indigo Caraque … sucre en pain … sucre brut … poivre léger …” The handbill also demonstrates the variable price of these commodities, with the same “demi-kil” of “sucre en pain” costing 3 fr. 40c. on 22nd Nov, and 3 fr. 35c. the following day. This fluctuation presumably relates to the quality of each shipment of goods. The sugar does not give its country of origin, though would likely have been from the French Caribbean colonies of Martinique or Guadeloupe. Prior to the Haitian Revolution, the majority of French imported sugar would have been produced on Saint Domingue. The loss of that colony caused a marked rise in the price of sugar and coffee on the French domestic market. No copies found via OCLC.

• Year: 1809

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