On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:24:58 -0500, jeff_wisnia
wrote:

Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:56:31 -0500, jeff_wisnia
wrote:



I've had a WWI "trench art" vase for so long I can't remember when and
where I bought it.

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/Trench_Art.html

I've always wondered how the craftsman who made it from a cannon shell
formed those smooth deep grooves in the lower part of the vase.

It's hardly unique, I've seen photos of many other pieces of trench art
with similarly formed grooves.

Thanks guys,

Jeff


http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...estion-259027/


Many people are not aware...that much of the trench art...was actually
made by French locals in cottage industry



" Some art was created during the war in the rear areas or towns by
locals or engineers for sale to soldiers. The production of trench art
really became a means of surviving in times when money and housing
would have been in short supply. The vast majority of trench art was
not produced by individual soldiers in the front line trenches, but
after the war for sale to tourists and pilgrims. Most of this trench
art was created in a cottage industry setting, rather than a factory.

Items made in factories were mostly pairs of vases; these were
made by placing empty shells in a special press to make the indented
shapes. These could not be made by a soldier in the trenches, in the
numbers seen, unless there were thousands of soldiers all following
the same design with great precision. In some ways they are too
perfect and the trench art made by soldiers has a very basic look and
feel about it, similar to “outsider art” as we know it today. "

For further read below.

http://www.kitwood.com/the-history-o...city-question/


__
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet,
balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying,
take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations,
analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer,
cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
- Heinlein

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Thanks Gunner. I had heard before that trench art was hardly ever made
by soldiers "in the trenches".

The piece I have sure looks like it was made to be sold as a souvenir as
the backside has a blank shield shaped plaque on it which could be used
to hold a "from-to" or other engraved name or message.

Lots of that trench art stuff is in the "dime a dozen" category of
artistic stuff nowadays, as this eBay page shows:

http://tinyurl.com/l6t7y5v

Jeff

In Nha Trang, Vietnam, brass ashtrays made from artillery cases were
churned out by a bloke who had a little shop down by the "Big Market"
:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.