Pair of WWI era Isle of Man Knockaloe Scrimshaw Trench Art carvings

A pair of truly one-of-a-kind WWI-era Scrimshaw cow bone carvings made by a POW at the Knockaloe Internment Camp on the Isle of Man during WWI. Background on Knockaloe: On 5 August 1914, the day after World War I broke out, the British Government passed the Aliens Restrictions Act.

Under this Act, the British Government controlled the movement of those they considered to be dangerous or otherwise termed "enemy aliens". The first 200 internees arrived on the Isle of Man in September 1914 for internment in Cunninghams Camp, Douglas. Following a riot that resulted in the death of five internees, Knockaloe Moar farm, a former training camp for Territorial troops became the largest internment camp of the WWI era. The internees were of various nationalities, including German, Austrian and Turkish. At its largest capacity, Knockaloe held nearly 24,000 prisoners of wear within 23 compounds of barbed wire and with 4,000 soldiers acting as the armed National Guard. The Knockaloe camp was three miles in circumference with 695 miles of barbed wire surrounding the compound. These are a highly detailed pair of bone carvings with a unique, somewhat romantic and heartfelt design, presumably that of two Dutch lovers separated by the ravages of war.

In these few words is encompassed the whole tragedy of both WW1 and wars in general. The Knockaloe internees found themselves with abundant downtime and the camp produced many original pieces of trench art, as well as furniture made by highly-skilled, European craftsmen. Finding pieces carved from bone in this intricate manner, with the highest attention to detail and color from this period is truly rare. Approximate measurements: each stands 7-7/8 inches with a diameter of 2-1/2 inches across the top and base.

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