Piston Ashtray

Item

Title

Piston Ashtray

Description

An ashtray with engravings: "Made from a Rolls Royce Merlin - Piston As Used in The Battle Of Britain August - October 1940"
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few," Winston Churchill

Reverse:
MADE IN ENGLAND

Date

Identifier

013.102.002

Medium

Provenance

This item is an example of a wartime souvenir or what is widely known as trench art. Trench art gets its name from the practice of turning war material into artistic creations which was common during World War I. Although not all items are made during war or in the trenches, the term has come to generally describe most art that is made from ordnance, military equipment, and other elements.

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