Original Item: Only One Available. This is an outstanding U.S. WWII trench art lamp assembled from inert ordnance components at the Ordnance School, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and identified by an original provenance label to Cpl. Ernest A. Beers of the 40th Ordnance Company (Training) in January 1944. The lamp incorporates an inert anti-tank mine as the base, an 81mm mortar projectile as the central column, and .50 caliber cartridges as decorative trim. Even more importantly, the original label on the underside identifies the individual components, their ammunition types, the unit, location, and date, giving this piece unusually strong period documentation.

The lamp and all incorporated ordnance components are completely inert and void of explosive content. They are in compliance with BATF standards for inert ordnance and cannot be converted back into live devices. NOT AVAILABLE FOR EXPORT.

Trench art is a broad collector term for decorative or utilitarian objects made by servicemen, prisoners of war, or civilians from military materials associated with armed conflict. While the term originated largely from the First World War, the tradition continued throughout WWII, when soldiers and military craftsmen transformed spent shell cases, inert projectiles, aircraft parts, cartridges, and other available materials into lamps, ashtrays, models, souvenirs, and presentation pieces.

This example is especially appealing because its origin is not left to speculation.

Attached to the bottom is an original period label reading:

THE ORDNANCE SCHOOL
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
AVIATION ORDNANCE SECTION
LAMP, M1A1, GI
BASE: MINE, Anti-Tank, Mk 1, inert loaded.
COLUMN: PROJECTILE, Mortar, 81mm, T5
Trim - .50 Caliber
Cartridges
Black - Armor Piercing
Blue - Incendiary
Red - Tracer
Plain - Ball
Cpl. ERNEST A. BEERS
40th Ordnance Co. (Tng)
JANUARY 1944

That label is the defining feature of the lamp, documenting not only who assembled or owned it and when, but also the exact military components used in its construction.

The base is formed from an inert Anti-Tank Mine, Mk 1, while the central column is identified as a T5 81mm mortar projectile. Decorative trim is made from .50 caliber cartridges, with the original label explaining the color coding used for the different rounds: black for armor piercing, blue for incendiary, red for tracer, and plain for ball.

The result is a particularly effective piece of wartime ordnance art that directly reflects the environment of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Ordnance School, where servicemen trained with, studied, inspected, and handled a wide variety of American ammunition and weapons components.

Aberdeen Proving Ground was one of the most important U.S. Army ordnance testing and training installations of WWII. Equipment ranging from small arms ammunition to artillery, armored vehicles, and aircraft ordnance passed through its testing and instructional programs, making the provenance of this lamp especially appropriate to its construction.

The identification to the Aviation Ordnance Section adds another interesting layer. The lamp was not simply assembled from random battlefield scrap, but appears to have been deliberately created in an instructional ordnance environment where the individual ammunition types and components were well understood.

The lamp remains functional, which is a particularly nice survival for an approximately 80 year old piece of military trench art.

It measures roughly 24 inches tall with a base approximately 7 1/4 inches in diameter, not including the handle.

Overall, this is a far more compelling example than an anonymous shell lamp. The combination of a named serviceman, exact unit, exact location, January 1944 date, documented ordnance components, labeled cartridge types, and surviving functionality gives it unusually strong historical character.

For the collector of U.S. WWII ordnance, Aberdeen Proving Ground material, named serviceman items, training artifacts, trench art, or military lamps, this is a highly distinctive piece with excellent provenance and display appeal.