Faux trench art

How did I determine it wasn’t authentic?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WORLD-WAR-...083265?hash=item214df8f9c1:g:bdEAAOSwnhlcCWTQ

 

It seems pretty finished for a shell. I wouldn't think they would make a shiny brass finish for a thing they were going to blow up, but that is just my take.

 

Bc it has no patina and signature looks like electro etched?

Sometimes people polish and remove patina.

Do tell, @springfld.arsenal!

 

No primer hole....

 

By my point of view, the artwork is crudely done, the verdigris pattern of spots seems new, rather than an overall tarnished finish, but I have a feeling Hollyblue is correct. No idea?

And the price seems way too high, by comparison with the ones shown at the bottom.

 

The fake primer is a dead give away!

 

Basic problem here is that this didn’t start with a real, fired cartridge case, the faker cobbled two pieces of non-military brass together then embellished it.

1. Bottleneck contour isn’t one I recognize
2. Every piece of fake cartridge case trench Art I’ve seen has an embossed sailing ship. Why, I’ve no idea but it is fact.
3. No real primer
4. If the marks on the base are supposed to be arsenal headstamp:marks, they look nothing like any real ones.
5. Base and rim way too thick, rim too small in diameter for a case that size.
6. Base soldered onto case body, which is a brass tube, not a fired cartridge case.

The quality of the artwork isn’t something you can use to judge authenticity, because real ones run the entire spectrum of “quality.”

 

One piece of trench art news: The late Jane Kimball’s huge trench art collection was sold off, and my family paid what must be a “record price” for one very special, large “sculptural” trench art cartridge case from her collection. Not easily accessible to me now but I’ll get a pic posted within months.

 

Some of these were made from real shells but after the fact or well behind the lines. This one however... apparently not. The Spring has spoken.

 

Find a shell,think about a design and maybe play with it for next winter's project when it's too cold to go outside....

 

Spring, your question made me laugh - but only because it took me back to something from my childhood.

I used to love to read the Encyclopedia Brown books & try to solve the "mysteries" myself.

There was one "mystery" about a blade of some sort - perhaps it was a sword...

Anyway, it was engraved with something that included the words "World War One", and Encyclopedia Brown was the person who determined that it was a fake.

At the time, I was so proud of myself for figuring out how he knew.

Of course, NOTHING would have been engraved "World War One" at a time when no one knew there would be a "World War Two". Boy, I thought I was smart!

 

I'd've thought the motifs and the base were well wrong. Interesting that tall ships are featuring so much, and I can't be too convinced by little birdies on a branch, either. Thanks for the heads-up, Spring.

 

Brass souvenirs crafted by William T. Pallin (a blacksmith by trade) from shells, uniform buttons and crests while he waited in Belgium to return home to Canada after World War I. © All rights reserved

 

Thanks. His primary technique was appliqué. I see some light engraving as well, but nerdy hard to see on the highly-polished examples. If you find nice trench art you want to resell, don’t polish it. Polishing doesn’t much hurt simple pieces like those shown.

 

I found it interesting that the items shown above don't look like your average authentic trench art , & without the stated provenance, I'd likely pass them by thinking they were newer...