A nice period pen and ink drawing showing a soldier wearing a neat forage cap and blouse, indicating he is a recent recruit, happily taking shelter behind a wicker gabion while a half-buried artillery shell smolders in front of him. Gabions were open cylinders woven of wicker by engineer troops or infantry assigned to the thrilling duty. They would be moved into position and then filled with dirt to produce a rapidly formed breastwork. The joke here seems to be that the gabion is empty and the soldier had been bringing it forward into position when an enemy shell landed in front of him. The artist shows a plume of smoke rising from the shell, indicating its fuse is burning and that it may yet explode. Our hero, meanwhile is crouched for cover behind the gabion wearing a smile at his cleverness and good fortune, apparently oblivious of the fact that he really has nothing but an empty wicker basket between him and a Confederate artillery round that is about to detonate. We wonder how the story ended.

A very amusing sketch that was probably well understood by old soldiers familiar with siege warfare, and the behavior of raw recruits under fire for the first time. Nicely framed and measuring 12.75” by 10.75” overall with the drawing 6.5” by 4.5”.  [sr]

The frame appears to contain plexiglass, so the possiblity of breakage during shipment should be minimal.

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