Chinese double axe: real or fake?
 

Can somebody please tell me, are these the real antique axes or the modern fakes? To me they seem old and I consider buying them, but I want to be sure.

THE CHINESE ARE VERY GOOD AT MAKEING REPLICAS AND MAKEING THEM LOOK OLD AND HAVE BEEN MAKEING THEM FOR A VERY LONG TIME. I SUSPECT THESE ARE OLDER REPLICAS OR PERHAPS ONES MADE FOR MARTIAL ARTS PRACTICE 80 TO 100 YEARS AGO :confused:

WORKING FROM PICTURES ONLY ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE VERY ACCURATE. I WOULD SAY LOOK AT AND HANDLE THE TWO AXES AND CHECK FOR BALANCE SHARP BLADES (AXES FOR PRACTICE MAY NOT HAVE SHARP BLADES) BASICALLY TO SEE IF THEY FEEL AND LOOK LIKE A WEAPON. THEY APPEAR TO BE WELL AND PROPERLY MADE AND TO HAVE SOME ACTUAL AGE BUT WITHOUT ACTUALLY HANDELING THEM AND SEEING HOW THEY FEEL AND MOVE I AM JUST GUESSING.

MY GUT FEELING IS MADE FOR MARTIAL ARTS PRACTICE IN THE LAST (100 YEARS PLUS OR MINUS) SO IF THE PRICE IS REASONABLE, THEY FEEL GOOD AND HANDLE WELL AND YOU LIKE THEM PERHAPS YOU CAN GET THEM AND PRACTICE A BIT AND ENJOY THEM.

IF THEY ARE ON EBAY AND IN CHINA BE SURE TO FIGURE IN THEIR EXTREMELY HIGH SHIPPING AND HANDELING CHARGES BEFORE BIDDING. THERE ARE NO AUTHENTIC ANTIQUES OR GOOD DEALS COMMING OUT OF CHINA ON EBAY THESE DAYS AND NOT BEING ABLE TO HANDLE OR RETURN A ITEM PUTS THE BUYER AT A BIG DISADVANTAGE SO BEWARE. BUT SOME OF THEIR FAKES ARE VERY INTERESTING IF THE PRICE IS REASONABLE. ALSO LOOK ON EBAY TO SEE IF THERE ARE SEVERAL OF THESE AXES OFFERED IF SO THEY ARE MODERN REPLICAS FOR SURE.GOOD LUCK

What Barry said. Probably not old. Could be anywhere from a few months to a few years. Beware of high shipping costs and realize that most of the pieces from China fall in the "replica" category.

He also gives excellent advice in that if you see two or more of the same piece, by different sellers, they are very likely fake.

I have a few of these as do most collectors.

If your goal is building an antique collection, buy from established dealers. If your goal is to have a few wall hangers -- and I don't mean this in a negative sense -- buy from the chinese sellers on eBay. I trust nothing in their descriptions but the dimensions.

Use common sense. Do you really think you are going to buy museum quality pieces at garage sale prices, on eBay? Ming dynasty swords? Chinese general swords? Even Qing dynasty?

There are a few established eBay Chinese sellers that I can recommend, but I know only two, maybe one that I trust. Certainly there are a few more that I don't know, but in general, COME ON! :rolleyes:

Hmm, maybe we should post a few pictures? Start a thread on "Ethnographic Replicas?"

First of all, thank you for your thoughts! These axes are from a private seller in Germany, and she claims that they are 150+ years old. I am sure, they have no great historical value, but they look quite good to be wall hangers. It was just interesting for me, if such kind of axes may be real in principle. It looks to me that weapons from China are very difficult to judge, because of their huge variety.