Capn, this one is a conundrum! While having the character of hafted axes for various uses by virtue of the shaft itself, there is nothing about the head which resembles an 'ice axe' nor any sort of boarding axe.
Personally I think it was wise to pass without having any sort of comparison to align this with.
I have no idea what was in the sellers 'detail' nor how they arrived at or supported the classification of this as an ice axe, presuming they mean the type used by mountaineers.
The 'pick' is anything but a spike and its rounded character seems to suggest it has become the 'adze' (=blade) ? while the part of the head supposed to be the actual adze is something akin to the head of a rake.
Clearly some sort of hafted tool or implement, not sure what maritime application would be at hand, but as we know, over the years we have seen bizarre items that had some arcane use in period, now long forgotten.
Hopefully somebody out there might recognize this curious item for future reference.
As point of reference for the 'ice axe' denomination, an 1872 illustration from Wiki.
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