German WWI Patriotic Cigar Label Collage Tray Field Marshal Haeseler 1914

A German wooden serving tray with turned handles, its glazed field filled with a collage of embossed and gilt chromolithographed cigar box labels of the First World War period. At the centre is a 1914 patriotic label bearing the portrait of an aged general officer in field grey before the Iron Cross, encircled by the dates of the three Wars of Unification, 1864, 1866, and 1870/71, with the date 1914 on the arms of the cross. The subject appears to be Generalfeldmarschall Gottlieb Graf von Haeseler, a veteran of all three campaigns who took the field once more in 1914. The tray measures approximately 11¾ by 8 inches (30 by 20.3 cm) across the frame, and approximately 13¾ inches (35 cm) overall including the handles.

The frame is of light-coloured hardwood with a rounded, moulded rim and mitred corners, enclosing a sheet of glass over the paper collage. The base is a flat wooden panel secured to the underside of the frame with twelve slotted screws. At each end a handle of turned wood, with a central bead and ring turnings, is carried on two metal posts with pointed finials, some brass-toned and some nickel-toned. The collage itself is built from several labels cut and laid edge to edge. The central label, printed with embossed gold leaf and fine chromolithographic colour, shows the general in a field-grey peaked cap with red band and a field-grey tunic with the red collar patches and gold embroidery of a general officer, set against the black Iron Cross with gilt oak leaves and wreath. Below the portrait a smaller label shows a black eagle on a white shield, the arms of Prussia, framed by oak branches and black-white-red streamers. Around these, the background labels carry the Spanish lettering "Fábrica de Puros Elaborados y Finos" (Factory of Fine Crafted Cigars) on black ribbons, embossed gold medallions in the manner of exhibition medals, crossed national flags, the Imperial German war ensign, black-white-red national flags, the black double-headed eagle on gold of Austria, crescent-and-star motifs, and heraldic shields, one of which appears to carry the three lions of Württemberg. The initials "J&E" and the design numbers "Dep. No 13527" and "ER No. 13704" appear in the lower margins of the central labels, Dep. standing for deponiert (registered).

Gottlieb von Haeseler was born at Potsdam in 1836 and spent his early career as adjutant to Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, on whose staff he served in the war against Denmark in 1864 and in the campaign against Austria in 1866. In 1870 he was first General Staff officer of the III Army Corps and later served on the staff of Friedrich Karl's Second Army at the siege of Metz. From 1890 he commanded the XVI Army Corps at Metz, the garrison facing France across the new frontier in Lorraine, where he gained a reputation as one of the most demanding trainers of troops in the Prussian army. He left active service in 1903, was made Generalfeldmarschall, and sat in the Prussian House of Lords. In August 1914, at the age of 78, he went to the front once more, accompanying his old XVI Army Corps in the field. His return to the field made him a figure of national affection, and his portrait appeared on charity postcards, medals, and patriotic badges throughout the war. He died in 1919 at Harnekop in Brandenburg.

The cigar trade was quick to adopt the imagery of 1914. German cigar manufacturers used richly embossed and gilt labels on the lids and inner faces of their boxes, and Spanish-language wording such as "Fábrica de Tabacos" or "Puros Elaborados" was a long-standing convention of the trade, evoking the prestige of Havana. In the first months of the war, makers and label printers issued patriotic series featuring the Kaiser, his generals, the Iron Cross, and the flags of Germany and its allies. Saving and arranging cigar labels and bands under glass was in turn a popular domestic craft from around 1900 into the interwar years, and collage trays, ashtrays, and plates of this kind were made both at home and for sale.

The central label is dated 1914 by its design. The tray itself is not marked, and since collages of this type continued to be made after 1918, it cannot be dated precisely; it was probably assembled during the war or in the years shortly after, from labels of the period.

Condition is good for its age. The labels are bright and well preserved under the glass, with strong colour and gilding, a small area of white loss on the crossed flags at the lower left, light rubbing, and minor creasing at some label edges. The glass is intact. The wooden frame shows handling wear, small dents and scuffs, and a small nick to the upper rail. The turned handle grips show wear to the finish, and the metal mounts are toned. The base panel shows small grain splits around the screw holes, scratches, and surface marks consistent with long use.

Patriotic cigar labels of 1914 are collected in their own right, and a full collage tray built around a portrait label of Haeseler, framed by the dates of all three Wars of Unification and the Iron Cross, brings together the old army of Wilhelm I and the army of 1914 in a single domestic object. It suits a collection of German tobacco and smoking material, patriotic home-front objects, or Iron Cross imagery, and it is equally at home as a display piece on a desk or sideboard.