Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. Trench art is any decorative item made by soldiers, prisoners of war, or civilians where the manufacture is directly linked to armed conflict or its consequences. It offers an insight not only to their feelings and emotions about the war, but also their surroundings and the materials they had available to them.

Not limited to the World Wars, the history of trench art spans conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the present day. Although the practice flourished during World War I, the term 'trench art' is also used to describe souvenirs manufactured by service personnel during World War II. Some items manufactured by soldiers, prisoners of war or civilians during earlier conflicts have been retrospectively described as trench art.

This is a lovely trench art lamp, most likely constructed after the war using Trench Art items that a US "Doughboy" brought home from Europe. It features an embossed and decorated German WWI brass artillery shell casing, with a relatively standard lamp installed on top of it. For a lampshade, it features a German WWI M16 "Panel Camouflage" helmet shell, which shows cracking and damage from service, and is a 64cm size. It measures 20 1/2" in overall height, and the casing is 3 1/2 across the base.

The shell casing portion of this lamp is completely void of any explosive content and is in total compliance per the BATF standards on inert ordnance. This round cannot be converted back into a live device and is not available for export.

The lamp portion is actually still functional, though we did detect some flicker, either from the switch or the bulb. The lamp is in lovely condition, with a great "battlefield pickup" look to the helmet.

Comes more than ready for further research and display.

PLEASE NOTE: The wiring and fixture in this lamp are definitely quite old. If you plan to use this as a functional lamp we would heavily recommend having the fixture and wiring replaced with current UL compliant wiring to avoid possible fire hazards.

Totally inert, cannot be converted to an explosive device, not available for export. This item is completely legal within the USA. International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and Local laws. Everything for sale on ima-usa.com is completely legal to own, trade, transport and sell within the United States of America.

All deactivated ordnance sold by IMA, Inc is engineered to be inoperable according to guidelines provided by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF).