Trench art tank ink well : Private H Cantor, British Army

Brass and copper trench art representation of a First World War British tank. The pronounced turret on the top of the hull has a hinged lid and contains a glass ink well. Made of brass, the hull of the tank has a distinctive rhombodial shape with a semi-circular sponson on each side. The gun from the starboard sponson is missing. The hull also has the characteristic 'rivets' projecting from the surface of the tank. The tracks are constructed from copper driving bands taken from shells.

Trench art tank made by a German prisoner of war and given to one of his guards, Private Hyman Cantor, a member of the British Army, in gratitude for the kindness shown by Cantor towards the prisoners. Born in Leeds, England in 1891, Cantor served in the British Army during the First World War. He emigrated to Australia with his wife Fanny, arriving at Sydney aboard the ship 'Moreton Bay' on 18 November 1926. The Cantors remained in Sydney where Hyman found work as a tailor's presser. Their daughter Louise was born in 1928. Hyman Cantor died in Balmain, Sydney in 1979; a year after the death of Fanny.