What's new
British Ordnance Collectors Network

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Trench Art or Vandalism

roller63

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I saw these for sale a while ago, a pair of what would have been mint original British WW1 No 2 hand/rifle grenades, until someone mullered them and turned them into candlesticks:angry:
If you have anything like this, don't butcher them, sell them to me ! :laugh:
1f_1.jpg
 
ooh nasty ,but i suppose when they got butchered that they wernt really worth anything to anyone
 
Some trench art is really nice with alot of work gone into it sadly 99% isnt, and now that I collect ordnance myself yes I think it is a shame but I dont think anyone makes this kind of stuff anymore and was mainly during WW1 / 2 .
Lets have a competition to see who can find the best and worst trench art pics.
 
Trench art whilst very clever and nice always strikes ma as vandalism in the extreme.

Fortunately this "art" has a place in the market but it seems to appeal to the select few!
 
I buy cheap 'trench art' items and strip them down for spares!

Cheers,
Andy
 
I like andy D's idea of the spare parts theory, I did bid for these grenades with that in mind, but someone wanted them more than me. I have no objection to trench art in principal, but it always seems to be made out of something rare. I agree with Spotter too, at the time these things were made, the items wer just bits of scrap lying around.
 
Not much "trench" in that art though ... ;-)

For discussion purposes: I would hazard a guess and say that what is commonly referred to as trench art will, nine out of ten times, be nothing but postwar junk (sadly often made up of rare pieces). True trench art is rare as hen's teeth and probably only confirmed original when found where the military artisan left it decades ago!
 
Last edited:
I got 2 nice Crayford rounds out of a trench art 'candlelabra". Cut the brazing and a little file work and there were 2 fairly rare rounds. Be alert and you could save something nice from a piece of crap.
 
Top