If not made during wartime, this emphatically handmade ashtray at least has a very strong make-do trench art sensibility, and the brass looks very much to me like  melted down shell casings. I really love its fat-walled, amoeba-like shape, and then these shiny silver shapes (aluminum I believe, and revealed to be one plate when turned over) that read a bit like landmasses with a river running through. Really an excellent object I think, perfect on the desk or anywhere as a catchall if not an astray. 

It's definitely got a strong patina on it, with erosion to the metal in a few spots, which seems only right. 7" long x 4 1/4" wide x 3/4" tall and weighs a few pounds.