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Magnificently Hand Carved 1914 Letter Opener in the Form of a Rifle or Shotgun

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Letter Openers47 of 143Can you help identify?Here's a nice Scissor and Letter opener Desk Set Flea Market Find
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    Posted 7 years ago

    Hyp-storian
    (40 items)

    Absolutely magnificent WW l trench art (?) letter opener. It is intricately hand carved from wood which has a beautiful color and patina to it, and inlaid with what appears to be brass and silver wire. It's clearly dated 1914 and has a detailed silver inlaid monument with the letters "L" and "G" on either side (which, thanks to Scott, I now know stands for the city of Liege, Belgium). It's made in the likeness of a rifle or shotgun and has absolutely incredible detail. I believe it's a shotgun if only because of the dual trigger. The stock has carved designs at the grip (with tiny gold metallic dots which I only just noticed under a magnifying glass!) and an inlaid silver I.D. plate (underneath the stock) as well as on the butt plate and grip cap. A superbly crafted piece of workmanship in spectacular condition for its 103 years.
    I only wish I knew the name of the Master carver who made this...

    Thanks for looking!

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    Comments

    1. scottvez scottvez, 7 years ago
      The "L.G." and monument are the coat of arms for the Belgian city of Liege.

      Here is my shrapnel letter opener with the same symbol:

      http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/28186-ww1-trench-art-shrapnel-letter-opener-wi?in=user

      scott
    2. Hyp-storian, 7 years ago
      Thanks Scott- that was REALLY helpful in (at least partially) identifying this!
      Now if only I could identify the artist/carver......(probably never gonna happen).
    3. scottvez scottvez, 7 years ago
      Glad to help out-- I was passing on information that was relayed to me from another CW user several years ago!

      scott
    4. Hyp-storian, 7 years ago
      That's what I love about CW- we're a bunch of fanatical collectors who all have a lot of knowledge about our specific chosen fields and are more than happy to share it with others!
    5. Gillian, 7 years ago
      Very interesting article:

      http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-mystery-of-the-phantom-page-turner/
    6. Hyp-storian, 7 years ago
      Thanks for sharing that article, Gillian- it made for fascinating reading!

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