French Trench Art Vases, 75mm Field Gun Shell Vases Dated 1916, Beautifully Worked Fluted Design
Transformed by a French soldier of WWI from a piece designed to kill to a pair of lovely bronze vases.
These two shell casings were collected from the battlefield as is evidenced by the marked condition of the base of the shells.
They were manufactured in different factories in France in 1916, the first at Rennes and the second at Angoulème.
The markings are: 1916
75 DE C which stands for 75mm Field Gun
ARS for Rennes
1550 L which is the batch number of shells produced
16 for the year 1916
The later batch number would suggest that this shell was fired at either the battle of the Somme between 1st July and 18th November 1916 or at Verdun from 15-17th December 1916.
The markings for the second 1916 shell casing:
75 DE C 75mm Field Gun
F. RE for Fonderie de RUELLE à Angoulème
45 L for the batch number
16 for 1916
This shell was certainly fired at the battle of Verdun as that battle lasted between 21 February to 18 December 1916 and, as it has a very low batch number, it was probably fired between 6th March and 29th March during the defence of the Fortified Region of Verdun after Phillipe Petain had ordered no retreat for the French forces.
Each vase is 8.5 cm in diameter and stands 34.2 cm tall
Transformed by a French soldier of WWI from a piece designed to kill to a pair of lovely bronze vases.
These two shell casings were collected from the battlefield as is evidenced by the marked condition of the base of the shells.
They were manufactured in different factories in France in 1916, the first at Rennes and the second at Angoulème.
The markings are: 1916
75 DE C which stands for 75mm Field Gun
ARS for Rennes
1550 L which is the batch number of shells produced
16 for the year 1916
The later batch number would suggest that this shell was fired at either the battle of the Somme between 1st July and 18th November 1916 or at Verdun from 15-17th December 1916.
The markings for the second 1916 shell casing:
75 DE C 75mm Field Gun
F. RE for Fonderie de RUELLE à Angoulème
45 L for the batch number
16 for 1916
This shell was certainly fired at the battle of Verdun as that battle lasted between 21 February to 18 December 1916 and, as it has a very low batch number, it was probably fired between 6th March and 29th March during the defence of the Fortified Region of Verdun after Phillipe Petain had ordered no retreat for the French forces.
Each vase is 8.5 cm in diameter and stands 34.2 cm tall
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