The Lost Saber of James Charles Hughes (KIA, Korea, 1951)

Decades ago, someone gave my grandfather a saber, or maybe he found it left behind in one of his many rental properties. The sword was made by N S Mayer Inc probably in the WWII era. My grandfather had it hanging in his den for many years. At some point, he gave it to my cousin. This past weekend, my cousin asked me to take it and find the descendants to return the sword to their family.

It didn’t take long to find out about war hero, Hughes, who was tragically KIA in Korea and was described as,  “SNA Class of 1949, Lieutenant Junior Grade Hughes was the pilot of a F4U-4 Corsair fighter with Fighter Squadron 821 aboard the carrier USS PRINCETON (CV-37). On August 9, 1951 at CU 520395, his aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, crashed and exploded. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.”

I began to explore his family through the help of genealogy and then was able to find the obituary of his brother. From there, I got a name of his niece, and it wasn’t but a few minutes more before I found her number through her Orleans Parish voter registration. I can imagine it was a weird call to get. But, when I asked if she had an uncle who was shot down in Korea, it started clicking. She drew a breath when she heard the tale of the sword.

She let me know that Lieutenant Hughes’ widow is still alive and in her 90’s. This week, she will receive this saber and it will be home, once and for all. Their family has elected his nephew, a retired West Point Lieutenant Colonel, to hand off the sword to her. As an antiques dealer and as a genealogist, it is these duties that I treat as the most sacred and pleasurable. In my eyes it’s jut a saber, but to them I know it will mean much much more.

Come see us at the new website www.dcsilver.com!

Comments

Cleaning Out Estate and Found a Silver Collection.. What Should I Do?

A typical silver collection. It happens all the time. Mom and Dad pass away and you never asked all the questions you should have about the silver and other antiques in the house. What can you do? What should you do? People around the world are faced with these questions every single day. Before you take those items to a charity shop, there are some things you should and should not do. Lots of places are happy to look at your silver and there are pros and cons to each. Clean-out companies : Many of these companies are predatory, charging families hundreds to haul away their junk-- as well as their priceless antiques and silver. I always think this is the worst option, but sometimes when all the family is far away, this may be the best option. Just know, if they spot a gold coin collection or a midcentury Rolex in the mix, it's gone baby gone. And it would have paid for your plane ticket around the world to be more responsible. Appraisers : Appraisers are useful, but you

The Power of Silver Hallmarks

Hallmarks can be extremely powerful and important in silver. They tell the story of many pieces of silver that is absent on most other kinds of antiques. For the furniture enthusiast, there are sometimes paper labels or pencil mark signatures, but these are rare. For silver, the marks are often there, and when they are, you need to pay heed. The absence of a hallmark can also be significant but we'll get into that later. In this little article, I want to describe the non-US hallmarks that have been the most important to me in my business dealings. The photos are pieces I have bought and/or sold some of which are still available at Crescent City Connection in my silver section . I make a description of some of these marks and use many thematically similar pieces to give those descriptions. I don't claim these are the best of the best pieces, just items I've been able to trade. For me, at my current stage of collecting, nothing could be worse on a piece of silver t

The Box Project

About ten years ago, on a weekend trip to Staunton, VA, I was browsing around in an antique shop called The Jolly Roger Haggle Shop. On a bottom shelf, way in the back, I thought I spotted something. It was a very old looking box and was in terrible condition. The entire box seemed to be covered in pine sap or some other sticky, grimy substance. Inside, the box was lined in blue silk and had an oval mirror in the lid. I licked my thumb and rubbed it across the lid. The lid was inlaid with small squares, and once I wiped away some grime, I immediately recognized that the inlay I had cleaned was tortoise shell. Although it was in terrible condition, I wanted it. No price, of course. So, I took it up to the front counter and inquired. "Where did you find that?" The owner asked. "It was over there on the shelf gathering dust. What do you want on it?" I replied. The man said he would take $20. I felt it was a good deal, so much to the chagrin of my g

DC Silver

Search This Blog