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Lot 2

A Railroad Detective's Porcelain Occupational Shaving Mug Belonging to Joshua Gray

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Estimate
$800 - 1,200
Price Realized
$2,413
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description

A Railroad Detective's Porcelain Occupational Shaving Mug Belonging to Joshua Gray

Early 20th Century
bearing the name J.B. Gray in gilt lettering, and depicting a Smith & Wesson revolver and a police baton.
underside marked T&V Limoges France and NATL in gilt.
Height 3 5/8 inches.

Joshua B. Gray was born in 1864 in Easton, Pennsylvania to Nancy O'Daniel Gray. Census returns throughout the early twentieth century record his occupation as a railroad officer, including the U.S. Federal Census of 1920, wherein he is listed as the Railroad Police Chief in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. He had worked as a railroad detective since at least 1896, when the Allentown Morning Call reported on his testimony of September 8 that three men carried "concealed deadly weapons" on board a train. Gray died of pneumonia on March 27, 1928, and according to his obituary, he had worked for many years as the Chief of Police of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, headquartered in Phillipsburg, and also served as a member of the Philipsburg Town Council.
Property from the Collection of James Carpenter, Montague, New Jersey
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