Item:
ON13310

Original U.S. WWII Trench Art Airplane / Globe Desktop Cigarette Box

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fine example of WWII Trench Art featuring a WWII styled aircraft flying over a globe. The globe and aircraft is fabricated from brass, with the propeller and cockpit made from pieces of celluloid.

The globe portion of the piece is a commercially made desktop cigarette box. The Axis, when pivoted reveals under the north pole a cylindrical internal compartment which is made of enameled aluminum which appears to be able to hold 30-40 or so unfiltered cigarettes. The airplane itself appears handmade, and was obviously a period addition to the globe.

The practice of creating trench art is as old as military conflict itself. During the American Revolution, prisoners of war created ship models from the bones of their rations. Soldiers in the Civil War carved charms and trinkets from lead bullets. World War I brought the advent of "classic" examples of trench art—and gave name to the pastime—as changes in technology presented soldiers with the material that best characterized the art form: the brass cartridge. During World War II, a more mechanized army offered increased access to the tools needed to fashion trench art, and the artifacts became more varied in form and were produced in greater quantity.

The condition and craftsmanship of this tabletop cigarette box is just absolutely beautiful. It shows signs of being heavily used and cherished throughout the years. The brass has long since tarnished, giving it that beautiful almost brown color look. This is definitely bound to turn some heads and would look great on an end table.

Comes ready to display in your WWII trench art collections!

Dimensions:
Overall height: 9”
Airplane: 6” L x 7” W
Globe: 4 ¼” Diameter

  • This product is not available for international shipping.
  • Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon

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