Lot 377
WWI TRENCH ART BRASS AND COPPER MODEL TANK
CIRCA 1917- 918
£404
Auction: Day One
Description
modelled after a British Mark IV tank, the side sponson with articulated guns, corrugated slatted tracks and engraved panel detailing to the sides, the top with a model semaphore signalling mast and exhaust silencer, the front plate engraved 'Highflier', the base engraved 'Cambrai, Nov. 1917, Ribicourt, Fontaine, Gouzeaucourt'
Dimensions
Footnote
Note: Trench Art refers to a wide variety of decorative items produced during or soon after the First World War. Often they are made from re-purpose lead bullets, brass recovered from spent charge cases, and copper from shell driving bands. Few examples were fashioned literally in the trenches but many were made by soldiers or civilians returning after the conflict, drawing on places and events from their own experiences.
‘Highflier’ was a British WWI Mark IV series tank that took part in engaging the German forces at Cambrai on 23rd November 1917. The Imperial War Museum holds a photograph of knocked out British tanks of C and H Battalions of the Tank Corps in German hands near Cambrai. The soldier stands next to the tank in the foreground but the painted name of ‘Highflier’ can be seen either side of his head. IWM Catalogue Number ‘Q 67594’
