WW I Belgian trench art

[hjalmar]

Hi, I'm from Belgium and new to this forum. A while ago I found this on the attic. I guess it appears to be trench art from 1918 (battle of Merckem) made by a Belgium soldier? It depicts a Belgium soldier stabbing a Prussian soldier with his bayonet. It appears to be made from a piece of bomb shrapnel.

Can anyone tell me more about this?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I have seen very similar knives before, with the handle made out of shrapnel. They were popular, commercially bought, patriotic souvenirs. They were popular on both sides.

Cheers, Ade.

[SteveR]

Thanks for showing.
I have never seen one before.
SteveR

[NickW]

Very nice piece - made from a shell splinter to be precise, not shrapnel (Sorry Ade) - I have a smaller letter-opener one in my collection. They are quite common, but seem more sought after than you might expect - yours is a particulalrly fine one and I have not seen one with the blade so well decorated. Like so may things these days, it seems that they are being faked but the repros I have seen are crudely finished - often with the handle still so sharp, it could not be used! No doubt this is the genuine article though.

[hjalmar]

very interesting.

Thanks for your replies!