Archive for March, 2016

Custom Carved & Engraved 3 Panel Heirloom Display Box (c.WWI)

Civilizations have come & gone, but not without commemorating their military exploits; through memoirs, diaries, painting / prints, handcrafted carved boxes, always noting the deeds of valor, often done by ordinary people. Such were the Flaherty boys, relatives of Mr. T. Johnson. In possession of some photos & war records, Mr. Johnson commissioned Uri to handcraft an heirloom box, the second commission, continuing his ancestral tree, (refer to March 1, 2012 blog ). Thus, using multi dimensional mediums as wood to  carve, brass to engrave, leather to carve, Uri designed & crafted a 3 panel display box to hold the time weathered pictures & testimonies of their service. In addition, the back panel displays a copy of  an image by Frank Schoonover ( illustrator ) entitled  ‘How Twenty Marines Took Bouresches’  which first appeared in the Sept. 1919 issue of Ladies Home Journal ( note: purchased the right to use this image ). The front panels respectively, have a painted carving of  both ‘Uncle Sam’ based on a J.M.Flagg 1917 poster & ‘Old Glory’  the name first coined by William Driver of Salem, Mass. ( c.1824 ).

As recounted by Mr. T. Johnson……

A great uncle of mine, Edward Flaherty, and a distant cousin of the family, Francis Flaherty, answered their country’s call when the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917.

Both were Iowa boys raised on the farm and infused with a desire to do their patriotic duty, battle “The Hun” and in President’ Woodrow Wilson’s words: “Make the World Safe for Democracy”.

Edward and Francis saw action in big American offensives along the Marne and Meuse-Argonne Rivers in France. Both men suffered from inhaling mustard gas but both survived, although Edward would die prematurely in the early 1930s from the long term congestive effects of the gas.

A bit of their war records had been passed down as well as a couple of black and white photos which to me seemed forlorn and not tribute enough to soldiers that had sacrificed so much.

I asked Uri to create a fitting dual memorial to these two warriors before the images and the memories got lost as so often tragically happens. We are just a generation removed from obliteration of so much priceless family history. And once gone, it cannot be retrieved.

Thanks to Uri’s brilliant craftsmanship, this fragment of history has become an art piece about two American boys who fought the good fight. It now stands ready to be passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom.

See Gallery  ( start top left ) to review details & progress from start to finish                     

For the cessation of the hostilities on the Western Front the Armistice was signed between the Allies of WWI & Germany at Compiegne, France at 11am, the 11th month, 11th day 1918.