Antique

The text hand-engraved on the banner reads ‘Bucquoy’, Bucquoy sat directly along the Western Front and was the site of intense, brutal conflict during World War One. The central symbol appears to be a Thistle flanked by detailed leaves. This suggests the piece was engraved by, or made to commemorate, a soldier serving in a Scottish Regiment (such as the Royal Scots, Seaforth Highlanders, or Black Watch) or a Commonwealth unit that fought around Bucquoy during the 1917–1918 campaigns. Hard engraved from an artillery shell casing, trench art was created by soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians during or after conflicts.