A fine and rare 'Le Char FT 17 Renault Tank' mascot, by Fix Masseau,

Footnotes

The Renault FT-17 (Automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917) was
a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential
tank designs in history. FT-17 was the first tank with an armament in a
fully rotating turret, and its configuration with the turret on top,
engine in the back, and the driver in front became the classic one,
repeated in most tanks until today; indeed so obvious to modern eyes we
can now only with difficulty understand its once-revolutionary
nature. Studies on the production of a new light tank were started in May
1916 by the famous car producer Louis Renault, for no apparent reason
other than his wish to involve steel tycoon Paul Thomé in his business
schemes. One of his most talented designers, Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier,
was the actual creator of the modern concept. Though the project was far
more advanced than the two first French tanks about to enter production,
the Schneider CA1 and the heavy St. Chamond, Renault had at first great
trouble getting it accepted. Even after the first British use of tanks,
on 15 September 1916, when the French people called for the deployment
of their own chars, the production of the light tank was almost
cancelled in favour of a superheavy tank (the later Char 2C).
Ironically it was again his own man, Ernst-Metzmaier, who had designed
this behemoth when Renault was assisting another firm, FCM. However,
with the undiminishing support of brigadier Jean-Baptiste Eugène
Estienne (1860-1936), the "Father of the Tanks", and the successive
French Commander in Chief's, who saw light tanks as a more feasible and realistic option, Renault was at last able to proceed with the design. However, the competition with the Char 2C was to last until the very end of the war,
11 November 1918. The prototype was slowly brought to perfection during
the first half of 1917. Only 84 were produced in 1917 but 2697 were
delivered before the end of the war. At least 3177 were produced in
total - and so perhaps more: some estimates go as high as 4000 for all
versions combined. However, the number of 3177 is the delivery total to
the French Army; 514 were perhaps directly delivered to the USA Army and
three to the Italian - giving a probable total production number of
3694. The tanks had at first a round cast turret; later either an
octagonal turret or an even later rounded turret of bent steel plate
(called Berliet turret after one of the many coproducing factories). The
latter two could carry a 37 mm gun in place of the 7.92 mm machine gun.
In the USA this tank was built on a licence as Six-Ton Tank Model 1917
(950 built, 64 of which before the end of the war).