Rare WW1 Belgian Children’s Cut-Out Sheet ‘L’Artiste Amateur’ Series D No.4 German Army Figures c.1916-1920

Original Belgian lithographed cut-out sheet titled L’Artiste Amateur, Series D No.4, published by Maison J.-N. Jacques of Liège, Belgium. Depicts numerous First World War German military figures including infantry, artillery, medics, motorcycle dispatch rider, armoured car and messenger dog. Produced as a children’s cut-out toy sheet shortly after WW1. An increasingly scarce piece of Belgian wartime ephemera. The sheet remains largely complete and uncut but has age-related creasing, small tears and a larger tear to the upper centre.

This is a fascinating and quite scarce piece of paper ephemera.

It is not a military poster, but a Belgian children’s cut-out sheet (planche à découper) published shortly during or after the First World War.

The heading reads:

“L’Artiste Amateur” (“The Amateur Artist”)

Published by:

Maison J.-N. Jacques, Rue Souverain-Pont 37, Liège, Belgium

Series D – No. 4

The illustrations show various German soldiers and military scenes from WW1, including:

Infantrymen advancing
Snipers
Artillery crew with a field gun
Medics carrying a wounded soldier
An armoured car
A messenger dog with Red Cross markings
Motorcycle dispatch rider
Soldiers in a trench

The figures were intended to be cut out and mounted on card to make toy soldiers or miniature dioramas.

Date

The German uniforms are clearly from 1914–1918, particularly the Stahlhelm helmets introduced in 1916, so the sheet was probably produced:

1916–1920, most likely during or just after WW1 (c.1916–1920) when war-themed children’s toys were extremely popular in Belgium and France.
Collectability

Belgian cut-out military sheets are increasingly collected because most were:

Cut up by children
Discarded
Poorly preserved

Your example remains complete despite the tear at the top.