Germany, Imperial. An S.S. Rugia Trench Art-Style Picture Frame

(S.S. Rugia Grabeskunst Bilderrahmen). A unique S.S. Rugia trench-art style commemorative picture frame, consisting of a white painted wooden lifebuoy, bearing hand-painted flags of Imperial Germany, the city of Hamburg, the Hamburg-America Line, and a Reichskriegsflagge, in addition to raised and gilt inscriptions of “S.S. RUGIA” and “HAMBURG”, surrounding a carved dark brown wooden frame which retains an intact glass face, the reverse with two swivel wooden clips to accommodate the glass, unmarked, measuring 25 cm in diameter, demonstrating modern tape reinforcement to the reverse of the glass, a unique and hand-made memento of a ship which serviced the noted Hamburg-America Line in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Two ships of the Hamburg-America Line operated under the name of S.S. Rugia, including an iron-hulled vessel manufactured by AG Vulcan of Germany, and launched in 1882. This ship serviced trans-Atlantic passenger lines until 1895, when she was sold and re-named. An additional S.S. Rugia was launched in 1905 by Bremer Vulcan and serviced the Hamburg-America Line until the First World War, before being surrendered to the United Kingdom as war reparations. The imagery depicted on this frame suggests a connection to the second vessel of this name.