Antique George V Sterling Silver Tank Table Ornament / Paperweight

Exceptional, fine and impressive antique George V English cast sterling silver tank ornament/paperweight; part of our military related silverware collection. This exceptional antique George V cast sterling silver ornament has been realistically modelled in the form of a British heavy tank of the First World War*. This silver ornament has been embellished with details reproducing the tank's rivets, track treads and pipes. Due to the size and weight of the piece it can be determined that this versatile piece was specially commissioned to be used as a silver paperweight or desk ornament. Such hallmarked English examples are becoming increasingly difficult to locate and are rare to the market. * This heavy tank design can be identified by the distinctive rhomboidal shape, with a high climbing face. This style of tank was designed to cross trenches of all widths and depths which were found on the battlefields in Wwi. More than two thousand British heavy tanks were produced in a variety of marks, and the manufacture was discontinued, as expected, at the end of the war. Maker: Elkington & Co Ltd Origin: Birmingham, England