WW1 German Mortar & Pestle 1915.

A scarce WW1 German cast iron mortar with the date of 1915 and the iron cross symbol to the centre, this has been cast on both sides. It comes with its original pestle, which is solid bronze. The mortar has white metal plating, of which the majority remains.
These are a bit of a conundrum, I have only ever had one of these before, it is suggested that they were traded in the (Gold gab ich für Eisen) the ‘I Gave Gold for Iron’ drive when the German state asked its citizens to donate their gold for funding the war and support families who lost relatives. People donated their gold jewellery, coins etc and received as a thank you iron medals or trinkets, but on all of these items is the slogan ‘Gold gab ich für Eisen’. There was definately room to cast this on these items and these would have been quite expensive to produce. Mortar & pestles were used in cooking but this is a medical pattern Mortar, much larger and deeper than those used for cooking.
Wether these were produced for medical units in the field or were part of the Iron for Gold campaign, no one has done the definitive research, but they are rare and this one is in exceptional condition for one of these. The Mortar measures 6 inches high and 5.5 inches in diameter at the top. The bronze pestle is 7 inches long. A heavy piece.

Code: 27978