Patchcollector Posted April 19, 2018 Share #26 Posted April 19, 2018 Congrats Dan on your new Wing.I'm looking forward to seeing your new images! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwnorma Posted April 19, 2018 Share #27 Posted April 19, 2018 Dan You are certainly welcome. I think you did well at the auction. I would caution against using a comparison of this badge and W-49 (Morris p. 26) as a basis for determining originality. The badge in Morris only bears superficial resemblance to the two badges in this thread. Close examination of the feathering of the wings here, and comparison to the wing in Morris will show a marked contrast in skill of execution. To illustrate, here is a somewhat higher resolution photograph (than Morris) of a half wing, previously sold by Daniel Griffin, of a similar "mustache" shape; but that was manufactured by Eisenstadt and bears that company's hallmark: Note the marked difference in overall execution especially with respect to fineness of detail. The Eisenstadt badge above and WB-49 in Morris (presumably Eisenstadt or Sweeney) both demonstrate much higher level of skill on the part of the jeweler. There was a good bit of copying of popular designs during the very short time these wings were worn. My expectation is your badge, and the one that preceded it in the thread above were likely inexpensive copies made by a local jeweler. I stand by my assessment that your's is likely a period badge, although some collectors may not agree. Best wishes Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtDan Posted April 20, 2018 Share #28 Posted April 20, 2018 Dan You are certainly welcome. I think you did well at the auction. I would caution against using a comparison of this badge and W-49 (Morris p. 26) as a basis for determining originality. The badge in Morris only bears superficial resemblance to the two badges in this thread. Close examination of the feathering of the wings here, and comparison to the wing in Morris will show a marked contrast in skill of execution. To illustrate, here is a somewhat higher resolution photograph (than Morris) of a half wing, previously sold by Daniel Griffin, of a similar "mustache" shape; but that was manufactured by Eisenstadt and bears that company's hallmark: JMA Eisenstadt OBV 001.jpgJMA Eisenstadt 001 REV.jpg Note the marked difference in overall execution especially with respect to fineness of detail. The Eisenstadt badge above and WB-49 in Morris (presumably Eisenstadt or Sweeney) both demonstrate much higher level of skill on the part of the jeweler. There was a good bit of copying of popular designs during the very short time these wings were worn. My expectation is your badge, and the one that preceded it in the thread above were likely inexpensive copies made by a local jeweler. I stand by my assessment that your's is likely a period badge, although some collectors may not agree. Best wishes Chris Chris, Thank you. I had looked for images of the Eisenstadt "mustache" badge before bidding on this badge.....but did not find one with the detail in the image you provided. I believe you are correct that the badge I purchased may not have been made by Eisenstad.....but hopefully it was made by another jeweler of the period. Thanks, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted April 20, 2018 Share #29 Posted April 20, 2018 I still don't see anything especially wrong about any of the wings posted. I have a hand-made "Robbin's-style" wing that is autobiographical. I have enclosed an image of my wing and an close up of another person's wing of the same hand. These wings are interesting in that each one is slightly different in the engraving pattern. Basically, the wings and shield are separate pieces and the shoulders of the wings are made up of stacked pieces, each one slightly smaller then the other, that give it a very nice 3D look. Because they are hand made, the stars, lines, US and feathering show variations, but you get the sense that they were made by the same hand (probably as a batch). The Eisenstadt/Sweeny wings (as do the Homorichus (sp?)) wings have a similar "the same but different" gestalt as well. Fakes made from castings tend to have lost the fine details (like the ones made by HeWhoShallNotBeNamed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted April 20, 2018 Share #30 Posted April 20, 2018 This is another hand engraved wing. When you get down close to the wing, the incredible skill of the engraver is very apparent. This is a much thicker and heavier wing, but is hand made as well. I once talked to a "home grown" jeweler and I asked him about the making of fakes. He seemed to think if you had the skills to make something like these wings, you could make a heck of a lot more money making legit pieces of art then you could cobbling together fakes and trying to fool collectors for a few hundred bucks. I am sure some people would do it, but he said, you learn your craft over many years of work, why make fakes? In any case, hopefully we can see some good clear photos of the wings, LtDan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted April 20, 2018 Share #31 Posted April 20, 2018 What you stated about faking these type Wings makes sense to me.Back in the day,there were top notch engravers in most of the Jewelry stores but nowadays there are a lot less of these talented Craftsmen around so I would think that most are gainfully employed by either the finer Jewelry makers or working independently making commissioned pieces. I really like the Wings in post # 29.The multi piece construction is interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted April 20, 2018 Share #32 Posted April 20, 2018 This is from an older thread. The wing with the repair was worn by a 99th AS pilot (IIRC, I have to look at my notes). He saw some combat in France. The Northeast Airlines wing is from the 30's using a Robbin's style gilt wing. The WWI wings were both originally screw backed. But both have had pin back replacements. One wing shows a "trench-repair". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now