Trench art vase identification

Totally out of my element here...appreciate any help.

Brass artillery shell vase with bullets. 4" tall with a 1 3/4" base.

An etched posy on 2 sides.
Stamped marks on base that i can read...
10-16...I-PDRH....an Anchor stamp...partial 'N N' on top, and 'K C' near the anchor.

hand engraved...M.15...with a date 2-17-1925.

 

Not made in a trench

It is a period WWI shell

It was likely made in 1925

The largest shell is Naval not artillery

There was purportedly an organized effort to rehabilitate disabled vets by them making these

Interest in them isn't what it once was

 

It's cool though. They filled in the primer hole to make a vase out of it. If they hadn't, I'd make a lamp out of it. My late dad did just that with some old shell casings.

 

terry...Thanks very much for the interesting info and history lesson!

evelyb...I never would have thought of making a lamp out of it (or what a primer hole is!). Your Dad sounds like he was a creative man.

 

Interest in them isn't what it once was

I still collect it as much as ever-don't have any posies yet. I like the way they bisected the .30 and .45 cartridges and the .30 bullets, that's not easy to do with ordinary tools. Largest case is from US Navy 1-pounder (37mm) heavy rapid-fire gun, but has been cut down in length. I don't know what the hand-scratched "M.1.5" means.

 

Thanks, springfld, for all the id's!

Is there a market specifically for disabled veteran's trench art?

Since it's WWI, but created in 1925, what category would I list it in?

 

what category would I list it in?

Private auctions, just for springfld.arsenal

haha, really dunno, I've always thought categories didn't mean much, people search using keywords, maybe someone else knows

 

Hahaha !!!
Ya, I can see why !
This puppy is very well done .
From the precision it took to cut the bullets in half to the soldering , someone went to pains.....maybe not great pains.......but pains !

Catagory , shmatagory.....key words will get it found no matter.

 

Let me know when, where listed-I may bid if it doesn't start too high.

 

Thank you all for the help! Your enthusiasm has made me look at militaria in a new light.

springfld...this belongs to a buddy of mine...let me talk to him and I'll get back to you.

"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

ALBERT EINSTEIN

 

I agree very well-done!

 

My thoughtful wife bought this interesting piece for the company collection. Thanks to Cartoongirl for letting us know about it here, I haven't searched on Ebay for quite some time.

When it got here and I looked it over closely, continuing to wonder about the poppy and the M.1.5, I'm thinking it all adds up to US Marine Corps. I think the M.1.5 means Marines, 1st. Regiment, 5th Battalion, which apparently did exist in Feb 1925.

The USMC theme is further supported by typical infantry small arms ammo (.30 rifle and .45 pistol) that's bisected and applied to the exterior. The basic "vase" Hotchkiss one-pounder cartridge case would be more available aboard some Navy ships, perhaps by then used as a saluting gun, but there were "landing gun" carriages available for that weapon also, and the unit may have had them for amphibious operations. The poppy flower is kind of a WWI veteran's symbol, and the Marines who lost many in WWI would have used it. Perhaps the Marine who made this was a WWI vet?

 

and those caissons go rolling along

 

The

"hi! hi! hee!"

is my favorite part

if one were to google the phrase I suspect it would show somewhat limited use

 

I did find out that the Army's official version is quite different but they don't seem to be able to get the troops to use it.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000019/default.html

 

That's because it stinks.

 

My mother was in the Army. I learned all these WWII songs before I was 10. Now I'll have this one as an earworm for the rest of the day. Her version ended with "We're from Keesler, we're proud and we're strong."

 

My maternal Granny was a WADC and VERY patriotic as were my two Uncles

They also had a womens mounted unit.