A circular majolica ceramic ashtray produced in Deruta, Italy, commemorating the Desert Air Force (DAF) Mediterranean Campaign. The cream-glazed earthenware body features a raised rim with impressed and blue-painted lettering reading MEDITERRANEAN CAMPAIGN and DESERT AIR FORCE. The central well depicts a blue stylised eagle in flight alongside a shield with a yellow cross, flanked by the dates 1939 and 1945. The exterior side is decorated with horizontal blue and red bands on a yellow ground, interspersed with small blue rosette motifs. The underside is stamped in an ochre-coloured pigment with the marks MAIOLICHE, DERUTA, and PERUGIA. There are also two hand-written numbers in blue ink: 52 and 42. This item is a theatre-made souvenir produced for British and Commonwealth personnel serving in Italy at the end of the Second World War.
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