Junior/Reserve Aviator Wing - reproduction

[Sabrejet]

I've had these particular wings for at least 10 years. WW1 period wings are out of my comfort zone but this one came along at the right time as I'd recently acquired a nice WW1 US Air Service tunic. It's quite tarnished/patinated, particularly on the reverse side. There's no visible maker's mark, but crudely hand engraved into it is the date "1-5-18". Looks great pinned to the tunic for display purposes but I'd welcome any comments and observations re its authenticity. Thank you.

 

 

[hawk3370]

I've had these particular wings for at least 10 years. WW1 period wings are out of my comfort zone but this one came along at the right time as I'd recently acquired a nice WW1 US Air Service tunic. It's quite tarnished/patinated, particularly on the reverse side. There's no visible maker's mark, but crudely hand engraved into it is the date "1-5-18". Looks great pinned to the tunic for display purposes but I'd welcome any comments and observations re its authenticity. Thank you.

 

 

 

Sabrejet,

Sorry, Repro. These are sometimes referred to as Reunion wings. Don't kow why they have been tagged with the "Reunion" name since almost all the WW1 Aviators have passed on when these started showing up about 10 years ago or so.

Terry

[Sabrejet]

Sabrejet,

Sorry, Repro. These are sometimes referred to as Reunion wings. Don't kow why they have been tagged with the "Reunion" name since almost all the WW1 Aviators have passed on when these started showing up about 10 years ago or so.

Terry

 

 

Oh well...you win some, you lose some I guess?! I'm not too disappointed because I had a nagging feeling there was something not quite right about them. As I said in a previous post, they look fine pinned to my Air Service tunic... probably virtually indistinguishable from the real thing to all but an acclaimed expert like yourself! (I actually checked them out against illustrations in your excellent book before posting!) Thanks for your input!

 

Ian :thumbsup:

[pfrost]

Oh well...you win some, you lose some I guess?! I'm not too disappointed because I had a nagging feeling there was something not quite right about them. As I said in a previous post, they look fine pinned to my Air Service tunic... probably virtually indistinguishable from the real thing to all but an acclaimed expert like yourself! (I actually checked them out against illustrations in your excellent book before posting!) Thanks for your input!

 

Ian :thumbsup:

 

I would concur with Terry on this, but I did want to say that I have seen and handled a very similar wing that I believe is actually a vintage example (not in my collection). The overall pattern and style is very similar but the other wing has much greater detail and craftsmanship. Also, some of the Eisenstadt "mustache wings" have similar (but not exact) hand chasing and workmanship. Of course, that is the main problem with these hand worked wings is that it is hard to know when they were made--90 years ago or 10?

 

As I said, I really like the one in my friend's collection and your example seems to be a copy of that particular pattern. Ultimately, if you like it and it looks good on a uniform display, than that is all that counts.

 

Best

 

Patrick

[Sabrejet]

I would concur with Terry on this, but I did want to say that I have seen and handled a very similar wing that I believe is actually a vintage example (not in my collection). The overall pattern and style is very similar but the other wing has much greater detail and craftsmanship. Also, some of the Eisenstadt "mustache wings" have similar (but not exact) hand chasing and workmanship. Of course, that is the main problem with these hand worked wings is that it is hard to know when they were made--90 years ago or 10?

 

As I said, I really like the one in my friend's collection and your example seems to be a copy of that particular pattern. Ultimately, if you like it and it looks good on a uniform display, than that is all that counts.

 

Best

 

Patrick

 

Cheers Patrick!

 

Ian :thumbsup: