Trench Art - Brass powder compact
2023.22.1
Powder compact made from shell casing, in the design of a dress cap with the Australian Rising Sun badge.
Name/Title
Trench Art - Brass powder compactEntry/Object ID
2023.22.1Description
This brass powder compact, including a powder applicator and mirror, fashioned from an artillery shell in the shape of a dress cap with Rising Sun badge. Made by Sapper Mal Jacobs, it has extraordinary detail and is a fine example of "trench art" from WW2. It is inscribed: "Elma from Mal" on the underside. Trench Art is a misleading term given today to a wide variety of decorative items, sometimes also functional, produced during or soon after the First World War (though the term is also applied to products of both earlier and more recent wars). They were made in all the countries engaged in combat. Ashtrays, matchbox holders, letter knives, model tanks and planes are typically found. Often they are re-purpose lead bullets, brass recovered from spent charge cases, and copper from shell driving bands, although carved wooden and bone pieces, and embroideries are also seen. However, few examples were fashioned literally in the trenches. Nor were all made by soldiers.Category
Badge, War Memorabilia, Sculpture
Art