Places | |
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Accession Number | REL31389 |
Collection type | Heraldry |
Object type | Trench Art |
Physical description | Brass, Copper |
Maker |
Unknown |
Place made | France |
Date made | c 1916 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Trench Art paper knife : British Army
Trench Art paper knife with a handle made from a 7.92 mm German rifle bullet and a .45 inch calibre pistol bullet placed end to end. A flattened British Army general service brass button, featuring the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, is attached to the handle on the cartridge of the 7.92 mm bullet. The knife has an ornate scimitar shaped blade inscribed on one side 'SOMME 1916'. A hole drilled through both sides of the 7.92 mm cartridge just below the shoulders, may have originally held a pair of bullets forming a cross guard above the blade, but these are now missing and the knife has snapped in two at this weak point.
Unknown. The knife was purchased in its present condition at a garage sale in the Blue Mountains, NSW, during 2003.