A rare surviving tennis racquet made by King Louis XV’s racquet maker has emerged at UK’s premier sports memorabilia auction house, BUDDS. Made by Antoine Henry Masson (1735-1793), the racquet was constructed of ashwood burnished in an oven with oak sawdust, then strung with sheep gut strings.

Originating as “jeu de paume” in the 13th century, it was a form of handball played in a courtyard or cloister. Balls bounced off walls and could be hit on the rebound. The net was just a rope tied across the court. The game grew in popularity, spreading to the courts of France and Italy and from there throughout Europe to people from all walks of life. Players began to wear thick gloves instead of barehanding the ball.

Enclosed courts with bleachers were built in palaces of the nobility, aristocracy and royalty. King Henry VIII was an avid player, building a tennis court at Hampton Court Palace in 1532 which is the oldest court of its kind in the world and is still used on occasion.

By the end of the 16th century, Paris had an estimated 250 courts. This was the peak of the sport of Royale or Real Tennis, the enclosed fully indoor sport that was the direct progenitor of the lawn tennis that took over the world (and the word “tennis) in the 19th century. The racquet was invented in Italy in 1583. The head was shaped like a broader version of a palm, inspired by the handball origins of the sport. The first formal rules of the game were codified in 1599. The guild of paumiers-raquettiers (ball and racquet-makers) established themselves as a professional organization with the exclusive right to sell balls and racquets.

By the time Antonine Henry Masson began to practice, the popularity of tennis had begun to wane, but it was still played by French royalty. Masson had been an apprentice from the age of nine years old, and he seems to have been something of a prodigy. He was still a teenager when King Louis XV noticed him as a player and as a maker of racquets and balls. He played internationally, defeating the best players in England and earning him the hindsight recognition from scholars as the tennis world champion between 1765 and 1785.

The racquet coming up for auction is a demi-paume type, a lighter weight racquet made to be played with a 30 gram ball, half the weight of the standard 60 gram ball. It is in good condition, with only a small area of wood splitting on the face and a slightly separated shaft. The pre-sale estimate is £12,000-15,000 ($16,000-20,000).

The remains of a Continental Army soldier who died at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina on August 16, 1780, have been identified through DNA analysis. The soldier was John Pumphrey of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, who was at most 18 years old when he died. He was matched to DNA from living relatives submitted to a genealogy database.

The Battle of Camden was the deadliest battle in the War of Independence with 900 American soldiers killed or wounded and 1,000 taken prisoner. Today the battlefield is a historic site as well as a cemetery, as most of the killed in action were buried where they fell. The remains of 14 soldiers who died in the battle were discovered at the historic Camden Battlefield and Longleaf Pine Preserve in 2020. They were fully excavated by a team from the University of South Carolina’s South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) in 2022.

They had been buried with modest personal effects in the shallow graves 12-14 inches deep. Battlefield graves were typically dug by prisoners of war, and in the heat of a South Carolina August, the bodies needed to be underground as quickly as possible. The 14 individuals were found in seven graves, the largest of the graves containing the remains of five people.

The skeletal remains were removed, many of them in soil blocks to protect the bones and any traces of associated materials. The skeletons were then examined by archaeologists and forensic pathologists from the County Coroner’s office. They were X-rayed, their teeth examined and DNA extracted before being returned to Camden where, in April 2023, they were laid to rest with full military honors in custom-made pine coffins sealed with hand-forged nails in a solemn ceremony at the Old Presbyterian Cemetery.

The research team were able to identify the ages of most of the soldiers. They were young, half of them under 35 years old and two of them teenagers between 14 and 16 years old. There was one British soldier and he was from Scotland, a Highlander of the 71st Regiment of Foot. One was Native American, and probably fought with the British. The rest were Continental soldiers from Maryland of Delaware.

Pumphrey is the first to be identified using forensic analysis of genetic material extracted from a small piece of bone. His genetic genealogy profile was matched to relatives who uploaded their DNA to public databases that allow forensic matching. Based on the growth plates in his knees, biological anthropologists estimate that Pumphrey was just 13 to 15 years old when he enlisted in Maryland’s 7th Regiment in Baltimore in 1777. He would have been one of the youngest members of George Washington’s Maryland Line and likely joined up in pursuit of a better life.

“Our soldier was orphaned at age 10, so it makes sense he would have journeyed to Baltimore to enlist in part for guaranteed clothes and food,” says Allison Peacock, genetic genealogist and president of FHD Forensics. Her company performed the identification research and organized a reunion in Maryland where Pumphrey’s genetic relatives commemorated his life and service this June.

FHD Forensics, the company that did the genetic genealogy matching, arranged a family reunion with the relatives of John Pumphrey in Maryland last month. Researchers hope to identify more of the soldiers who died at Camden using this approach in the future.

A metal detectorist working for heritage officials in Villmergen, Switzerlands has uncovered hundreds of religious medallions dating between the 17th and 20th centuries. The medallions are dedicated to a variety of saints and the Virgin Mary, and originated from sites all over Europe.

By far the largest number of medallions from Villmergen come from Einsiedeln Abbey and mostly show the miraculous image of Mary. Pilgrim badges from Ettal and Wesobrunn in southern Germany also found their way into the ground in Villmergen. Pilgrim badges from further afield come from Rome. They depict the four Holy Doors in Rome, which, otherwise always walled up, are only opened every 25 years during a so-called Jubilee Year. Those who make a pilgrimage to Rome and pass through the four doors receive an indulgence for their sins. The most recent medallions come from Lourdes, a Marian pilgrimage site still frequently visited today.

They could be worn as pendants or attached to a rosary to reinforce prayer and act as talismans to protect the wearer against evil, illness and bad luck. Some were hung in important locations — on cradles or near crops, for example — to protect them from disaster. The medallions of patron saints were applied to their areas of expertise to protect from specific dangers. One of the medallions features Saint Anastasius the Persian, who granted protection from headaches and madness.

Another medallion features the ever-popular Saint Anthony, patron saint of lost objects. Its owner placed a high value on Saint Anthony’s intercession, as is evident in the wear and tear. The hanging hole had to be was remade after the original one tore.

The medallions also served other purposes. They were mementos of special moments in life, such as confirmation or a pilgrimage. However, they were not only meant to remind their owners of personal experiences, but also to repeatedly bring the life stories of the saints to mind. Church officials therefore promoted the use of such pilgrim badges and distributed religious medallions and other gifts to the general population.