In her long-awaited book on trench art and related war souvenirs, Jane A. Kimball places the diverse body of objects known as trench art within their social and art historical contexts. "I bought my first piece of trench art, a decorated artillery shell, in Folsom, California in 1970. Fascinated by the fact that someone had created a piece of art from military debris, I tried to find out more about 'trench art', and was able to find only a few articles in military periodicals," she says. This research led to her book Trench Art: An Illustrated History.

Jane spent most of her working career as an academic research librarian, and over the years was able glean information about trench art from a variety of sources published during and after World War I. "I discovered that World War I, 'The War to End All Wars,' with the stalemate of trench warfare along The Western Front, provided the perfect environment for the creation of this particular form of popular art. Millions of shell casings and other battlefield debris littered the battlefields of Belgium and France, and some soldiers in reserve lines, others recovering from wounds, and many prisoners of war used spent war materials to create souvenirs of 'The Great War.'" Jane continues, "After World War I, the Western Front became a major tourist destination, and ex-soldiers and local civilians collected battlefield debris and created a variety of war souvenirs for sale to tourists and relatives of the fallen who came to France and Belgium to visit the graves of their sons and husbands."

Although World War I is the focus of Trench Art, Jane has put trench art into the larger context of war souvenirs from the Napoleonic Wars to current conflicts. "My book combines historical analysis with extensive quotations from primary sources and ample illustrations of trench art pieces to allow academic researchers, museum curators and collectors of trench art to see individual pieces within their historical contexts," says Jane.

Jane lives in Berkeley, California with an eclectic assortment of human, feline and canine companions. She continues to fill in gaps in my trench art collection [an endless pursuit]. “Once a collector, always a collector,” she says. Her other interests are the history of libraries, particularly those established by Andrew Carnegie, architectural history, photography and gardening. Jane has also become involved in renovating an old house in Berkeley

Sample an excerpt from Trench Art