Memorabilia

Italian WWI Model 1907 Wooden Canteen

Wooden keg style canteen with iron bands and gray-green canvas and leather strap stained dark from use. Complete with wooden stopper retained by a short cord.  Base has a maker stamp that is no longer legible and carved initials.  

$100 - $150

WWI Era Steel Plate With Mounting Brackets

4.04mm (5/32") thick rectangular concave profile steel plate is roughly square - 23mm (9-1/8") tall and wide, with clipped corners at the top, fitted with brown leather billet straps that appear to be set up to pass over the user's shoulders, cross at the back, and are then secured to short buckle straps fitted to either side at the base with roller buckles.  Steel plate retains a portion of black painted finish blending with dark oxidized patina overall.  Interior is fitted with a brown leather cushion.  No visible markings.  It has two rectangular mounting brackets attached to the upper center portion. I did not find this in Bashford Dean's reference.  My initial thought was that it might be Italian.  Our consignor believes it to be a part of French WWI engineering equipment. 

$100 - $200

WWI Private Purchase Body Armor

32.5cm x 30.5cm (13" x 12") concave steel armored plate is profiled to accomodate the wearer's neck, left arm, and firing arm.  This is encased in an ocher brown cotton covering with darker ocher brown web neck and waist straps with "PARIS" marked two-prong vest buckle fittings.

I was unable to identify this specific armor piece in Bashford Dean's Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare, a period study of such equipment, but the originality of the armor itself and its genuine purpose are not in doubt.  However, just a bit of artifact phrenology reveals that the armor plate inside this covering has a pitted texture and some flaking material, which leads me to believe that it is an original armor plate, but the covering and straps are a later restoration.  That said, it displays very well and is a nice piece to illustrate the story of private purchase body armor in the trenches of WWI.  

$100 - $200

WWI Canteen, Mess Gear, & Gas Mask Mixed Lot: Austria-Hungary, Britain, & France

Mixed lot of gear features an Austro-Hungarian Enameled Canteen With Cup & Carrying Harness.  Green enameled iron canteen and cup both have 1917 dated maker stamps, with chips in the enameled finish as is normally the case.  This set is complete with the original stopper, captive end stopper cord, and a brown leather carrying harness with iron adjustment buckle rather than the field gray cloth carrying strap.  Leather strap is very fragile and mostly broken on one side.  This system was abandoned later in the war in favor of carrying the canteen inside a pocket of the breadbag that was sewn exclusively for that purpose.  We seen canteens regularly, we see even see cups on occasion, but finding the whole rig does not happen often.

Far more often (or rather nearly always, in fact) is the very crispy, relic condition of a French ARS Gas Mask.  These rubberized fabric masks just do not survive in anything that resembles pliable condition, and are normally found soldified into the same collapsed and compacted form that they take when stuffed into the carrier.  These are no exception.  The fragile eyepiece lenses have self-destructed as well.  Lot includes two masks, one complete with the metal carrying canister, and the other on the loose.

Lot further includes a tinned iron French M1852 mess kit which has lost most all of its tinned finish and is now oxidized and lightly rusted, complete with lid, as well as one of the interior trays and an extra lid, and a French Issue Cup.

Lastly, the lot includes a British Pattern 1903 Water Bottle in the skeletal brown leather carrier as is commonly associated with mounted troops.  Carrier is unmarked; canteen has BroadArrow and other stenciled markings on the khaki wool covering.

$100 - $200

WWI Canteen Lot: French 1915 Era One Liter Canteen & Canadian Canteen Lot

French WWI 1915 Era One Liter Canteen & Issue Cup: Early war one liter tinned iron canteen has original horizon blue wool cover dating it to the equipment transition era in 1915.  Early in the war, the French Army elected to drop the one-liter canteen in favor of the M1877 two-liter canteen that had previously only been issued to troops in hot climates such as North Africa. The horizon blue wool cover on this one is appropriate for that 1915-1916 transition era.  This example has the original cork stopper, and a dark brown leather sling which shows wear but is pliable, intact and Pecard-free, fitted with a swivel snap attachment on one side.  The horizon blue wool cover shows wear and stains but no mothing.  Includes a nice issue cup.

Canadian pattern watter bottle is complete with its khaki wool felt covering, web sling and harness.  Cover has some areas of mothing.  These were produced by the Canadian Aluminum Goods Supply Co. in 1914 and 1915.  Author Chris Pollendine notes "They were often issued with the Pattern 1914 leather equipment, although they were a poor fit in the bottle carrier, also sometimes with the Pattern 1908 equipment, which was even worse."  $200-$250