~ Bruce Bairnsfather Old Bill Trench Art Car Mascot ~
A first world war era Bruce Bairnsfather Old Bill car mascot incorporated into trench art.
The piece of trench art is styled as an ashtray or similar with Old Bills head perched atop.
It has been crafted from the bottom part of a 13 pounder brass shell case dated for 1916 with a brass tube across the top which is then
fixed with the Old Bill mascot.
The tube is finished at the end with brass buttons from The Royal Warwickshire Regiment which was the regiment Bruce
Bairnsfather himself had joined in 1914.
The mascot itself is of brass in the form of Old Bills head, with his trade mark walrus moustache, scarf and tin helmet.
The mascot is marked with Bruce Bairnsfathers signature around the edge of the helmet.
~ Dimensions ~
The piece has a diameter of 9cm (3 1/2 inches) and a height of 11cm (4 1/4 inches).
It weighs 880g.
~ Condition ~
The piece is in a very nice condition with only very light wear and no damages.
~ Old Bill ~
Old Bill was a fictional character created in 1914–15 by cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather.
Bill and his pals featured in Bairnsfathers weekly ‘Fragments from France’ cartoons published weekly in ‘The Bystander’ magazine
during the First World War.
Old Bill was depicted as an elderly, pipe-smoking British ‘Tommy’ with a walrus moustache. The character achieved a great deal of
popularity during the First World War where it was considered a major morale booster for the British troops.
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