18 pounder shrapnel shell desk light

[Stuart Fedak]

Text removed as information is no longer current

[Lynn Eades]

My thought was....... "What does it look like?"

[Ed Storey]

DO NOT CLEAN IT. You will devalue it and ruin the patina. Just leave it as it is.

[Lynn Eades]

Thank you for posting the pictures Stuart. An interesting piece.
Now that I've seen it, I still have no idea about what sort of shade you could use. Ed's advise is great!, but on the shade, try a females (constructive) advice.

[Tony Wheeler]

Wonderful piece Stuart, thanks for the pics. My first thought for the lampshade would be a traditional banker's desk lamp, which I've always liked. They're still being made so you could probably adapt the fixture. Better than a frilly domestic lampshade IMO. Also I'd be replacing the plastic lead and plug with some retro stuff, ie. cloth sheathed lead and bakelite plug.

banker's desk lamp.jpg

[Mike Cecil]

Interesting, and a common battlefield relic, as the case of the 18pdr Shrap essentially stays intact upon initiation of the bursting charge. I see yours has no rifling marks on the driving band, so a new/unused production item, rather than a b'field relic (like the one I used to have: now at the AWM).

I was amused by the CWM caption on their sectioned example: whoever wrote it fell into the trap if describing the shell as exploding in the air and shattering, which is simply not the case: it was a far more sophisticated round than that!

Nice curio.

Mike C