Dec 10, 2021
Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: this little brass ashtray. It is, in fact, a piece of trench Art from WWI. I bought it in a cafe-cum-collectibles establishment on the isle of Mull, Scotland, many years ago.
The ashtray was crafted from a shell that was manufactured in Sep 1917 in the Patronenfabrik, Karlsruhe. The stamps indicate that it was a strengthened shell (St 386). There was 67% copper in the brass mix, it was inspected at Spandau (Sp 255). The shell case is 80mm. I don't know from where it was retrieved but I have heard of identical shells being from the Dardanelles.