Original Item: One of a Kind. This may or may not have come to us in a package marked “FRAGILE”. It’s a leg! But not just that, it's also a lighter! This is a magnificent example of WWI Era "Trench Art", a cigar or cigarette lighter in the form of a lady's leg. It is made from blacked copper and brass, with the top of the leg coming off to reveal the workings of the lighter. It measures approximately 5 1/4 inches long. Quite a bit of time must have gone into making this piece!

Around the top of the leg, on the brass trim that we presume to be the bottom of a French lady's undergarments, the lighter is named to Bert Hall on one side, and the other side is marked LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE.

The La Fayette Escadrille (French: Escadrille de La Fayette) was a U.S. unit constituted in 1916 under French command, made up of volunteers who came forward to fight for France during World War I in Europe before the United States entered the war in 1917. The escadrille of the Aéronautique Militaire was composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters. It was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Internet research tells us that Bert Hall was a military aviator and writer. He was one of America's first combat aviators, flying with the famed Lafayette Escadrille in France before the U.S. entered World War I. He was mentioned in several books, and was one of the original seven members of the unit. He also went on to write two books regarding his experiences during WWI.

Unfortunately he was not exactly well-liked by his comrades, as he was known to embellish his stories quite a bit. Some go a farther, calling him " a four-flusher, a liar, a deserter and a good poker player who could read his opponents, and usually cleaned the table." He was not fond of regulations or doing things "by the numbers", and freely admitted "Talking up one's exploits had its advantages, even in a big caliber war."

A great trench art lighter, named to a larger than life aviator from the first world war. Ready to display!