'Cupal Maker' GAB in bronze

[Job Lunter]

Hi Guys,

Here is bronze 'Cupal maker GAB' I have managed to acquire recently. Interestingly this piece was brought up here in 2003, back then barely anyone believed in these. So much has been achieved in the last 20 years and there is still so much more out there.
I am very thankful I can add this piece to the collection, this one might help me get a little closer to finding which maker produced these. The GAB itself remains in unworn condition and has a thick finish with lacquer on top, giving it an almost worn tombac look.
Enjoy!

Best regards
Job

[Jelle M.]

Hi Job,

Your pictures are more clear to see than what i have seen earlier.
I stared for quite some time at your badge and i must say that i'm fairly sure this GAB is a reproduction.
It is a casting from an original cupal grade.
There are several points on the obverse that are disturbing to me... some so significant i can't but conclude it's a fake.
We should always be very careful when looking at bronze grade GAB's, it is safe to assume there were prototypes in bronze in the early material.
They are totally textbook and genuine. Why they made them is still another question. They might came up with the idea to invent the bronze grade
and thus some manufacturers jumped on producing these in limited quantities.
Still it would make no sense to make another prototype later in the war in zinc. They were no regulations nor any official awards of these.
I know some people believe in zinc Assmann gab's in bronze but i'm not one of them. Simply because i know Assmann used several different types of coating
that can easily be confused with bronze finish after the silver wash has vaporised. In other words, i have never seen a bronze grade GAB in zinc that looks plausible to me. That said, it's not because you haven't seen something that it cannot exist.
I made a comparison with this bronze grab with a confirmed original silver grade posted by Nicola M. on this board.

Overall looking at the obverse i must admit that the detail is very weak.
My major issue are the deformed nerves of the leaves highlighted with the red arrows. That is something i have never seen before on a genuine 'cupal maker'
GAB. These are always straight lines, not curvy and disturbed.
In the blue circles you see details highlighted that are very difficult to cast as they are hidden away. On the bronze example it is clear to see these details are almost impossible to see, while on the right example they are very neatly exectuted. In other words, they are badly casted. The overall pebbling on the wreath of the bronze grade is not good.
Highlighted with the yellow arrow is the poor detail of the beak, the line creating the detail is only visible on the left side and is not present on the right.

Why i think the bronze grade was casted from a cupal badge is visible on the reverse. The typical cupal pressure marks were also casted (in a very light degree) and are visible on the reverse of this supposed bronze grade. I have not seen a massive zinc badge that has the same pressure marks as the cupal examples.

Would be very interested in reading the opinion of other members but for me this badge is surely no good.

Jelle

[Job Lunter]

Hi Jelle,

Thank you for the comment and pointing out the things you don`t like about this piece, its much appreciated. Your concerns with the badge are definitely noted as good points by me and we briefly discussed this.

Like you mentioned there is three things that raise the concern:
1. The off-center grains in the leaves
2. The overall detail of the badge
3. The marks on the back generally known from the solid cupal GAB.

1. There is a discussion posted in 2013 about the off-center look of the 'cupal maker' in zinc. It discusses the same flaws you pointed out with the red arrows. This is probably related to the die having shifted during production or wasn`t cleaned properly, maybe even damaged..... This can vary between no difference at all to a rather big difference(see photos missing setup). Some flaws appear to be a returning sight, others being almost unique flaws. I think the piece shown below shows this problem rather well.

2. The overall detail of the badge is rather low and this would partially be the the die. But imo most of this has to do with the thick bronze finish, compared to silver Assault badges the bronze pieces often have a thicker finish covering some of the soft details.

3. The marks on the back were noticed by me as well, when I bought it. I am glad you raised this question because it made me look up what I had concluded on these marks. I found this piece posted not that long ago, it has a similar flaw to the leaf grains. The setup is identical and it makes use of a high quality silver finish with what appears to be a tombac looking coating. This piece features the marks you pointed out on the back. I am still looking for a couple more with these marks.

And like you mentioned more opinions are appreciated.

About the GAB bronze in general. What caused makers to make these bronze pieces is unknown, but I am 100% positive there are zinc, tombac and even NS/White metal GAB in bronze to be found. I am still studying these Bronze GAB and putting them together for a better understanding of the finish used. So far this is the first unknown maker I have seen with a bronze finish, the other pieces are all form known makers.
The bronze Assmann are considered to be bronze because the pin is finished with the same finish. Some sort of silver finish would have been seen on one of them if not so imo.