'Indian' mace

kronckew · 9th November 2012, 09:56 AM

bought this on a whim from an epray dealer.

listed as indo-persian, the face looks indian tho.

it's from a chinese dealer who says

Quote:

Name,crudely punched in the steel at the base of the sculpted hand grip
there are interesting designs stamped into certain parts of the shaft...makers markings perhaps and bronze construction. This is not a ceremonial mace. This mace is devistatingly heavy and "powerful armour crusher"

heavy bronze head with extended nose, ears, earings and hair projections to concentrate the impact.

A leather wrist thong would once have been on the shaft to prevent loss or flying out of ones grasp.

The decorative collar appears to be of thick silver

the whole thing possibly(for my tastes) slightly over-cleaned by the, well meaning, previous owner

while suspicious of the chinese connection, i'd assume that most fake manufacturers would have chemically patinated this. could be wrong. if against the odds, it wasn't made yesterday, it's a shame the previous owner polished it.

anyhow i bought it knowing it might be fake, but that it could be a 'user' rather than an antique.

thought i'd show it here for comments from the more knowledgeable. i'd be amazed if it were really antique. i'd be pleased if it were just a good fake and didn't just fall apart actually hitting something with it. implied is that it is a steel shaft & grip with a bronze head and possibly a 'silver' collar.

i generally say 'caveat emptor' - i'm really caveating on this one.

p.s. - i stitched two photos together to make this one - it could be longer or shorter than it appears.

Tim Simmons · 9th November 2012, 10:33 AM

Looks like the head of Parvati she is beautiful but can turn really quite unpleasant.

Berkley · 9th November 2012, 06:44 PM

FWIW, in addition to the completed auction for "UNIQUE INDO-PERSIAN MACE shamshir sword armor", the identical item is available as a "Buy it now - 1 sold, 5 available" with the identical description. Apparently the previous owner was not only well-meaning but also very busy, cleaning so many of them.

The "INTERESTING DESIGNS STAMPED INTO CERTAIN PARTS OF THE SHAFT" appear to have been cast in a mold rather than stamped into the bronze or brass.

The original listing, from 10/30/10, does appear to have a steel shaft and contains within the same description the following: "THE DECORATIVE COLLAR APPEARS TO BE OF THICK SILVER 100% GUARANTEED PRE-1800. EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT DEEP PITTING TO THE STEEL SHAFT AND MANY SMALL DENTS AND MARKS TO THE BRONZE HEAD THE WHOLE THING POSSIBLY(FOR MY TASTES) SLIGHTLY OVER-CLEANED BY THE, WELL MEANING, PREVIOUS OWNER WEIGHS APPROX 2.25 KG ON MY WIFES KITCHEN SCALES 26 INCHES (66 CMS LONG) OVERALL *THIS MACE HAS NEVER BEEN OFFERED FOR PUBLIC SALE BEFORE NOW* *THIS ONE IS PART OF A SMALL COLLECTION OF FINE OR UNUSUAL INDO-PERSIAN-ISLAMIC MACES I WILL BE LISTING OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.*"
On 3/14/11 the next listing shows the brass shaft and omits the language from the original listing.

Stan S. · 10th November 2012, 12:59 AM

I have to confirm that this is a modern repro/fake that comes from China. I know the seller on ebay carrying these and was eyeing one for myself a while back. It's a nice mace for sure but definetely not an antique

kronckew · 10th November 2012, 08:08 AM

good, as i suspected, i wanted a reproduction anyway.

i stumbled across it while searching for this repro.

i found the co. that supplied them for the movie (van helsing). it cost me more that the indo-chinese one.

anyhow, now i don't have to worry about messing up a real antique. at least the 'previous owner' didn't seem to dent mine.

berk, your photos are better too.

kronckew · 23rd November 2012, 09:22 AM

well, the indian mace actually arrived yesterday. not quite so 'cleaned' as in the pictures. a bit of green gunge with a half hearted attempt to chemically patinate the head. the shaft that appears silvery in the photo is actually cast integrally with the rest. all bronze; tested with a strong magnet. cleaned off the phoney verdegris & it looks a lot better. actually feels fairly good in the hand & it's a shame it arrived a tad late for experimental pumpkin bashing.

9th November 2012, 06:44 PM	#3
Berkley Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Austin, Texas USA Posts: 257	FWIW, in addition to the completed auction for "UNIQUE INDO-PERSIAN MACE shamshir sword armor", the identical item is available as a "Buy it now - 1 sold, 5 available" with the identical description. Apparently the previous owner was not only well-meaning but also very busy, cleaning so many of them. The "INTERESTING DESIGNS STAMPED INTO CERTAIN PARTS OF THE SHAFT" appear to have been cast in a mold rather than stamped into the bronze or brass. The original listing, from 10/30/10, does appear to have a steel shaft and contains within the same description the following: "THE DECORATIVE COLLAR APPEARS TO BE OF THICK SILVER 100% GUARANTEED PRE-1800. EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT DEEP PITTING TO THE STEEL SHAFT AND MANY SMALL DENTS AND MARKS TO THE BRONZE HEAD THE WHOLE THING POSSIBLY(FOR MY TASTES) SLIGHTLY OVER-CLEANED BY THE, WELL MEANING, PREVIOUS OWNER WEIGHS APPROX 2.25 KG ON MY WIFES KITCHEN SCALES 26 INCHES (66 CMS LONG) OVERALL THIS MACE HAS NEVER BEEN OFFERED FOR PUBLIC SALE BEFORE NOW THIS ONE IS PART OF A SMALL COLLECTION OF FINE OR UNUSUAL INDO-PERSIAN-ISLAMIC MACES I WILL BE LISTING OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS." On 3/14/11 the next listing shows the brass shaft and omits the language from the original listing. Attached Images Last edited by Berkley; 9th November 2012 at 07:01 PM.

9th November 2012, 10:33 AM	#2
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,807	Looks like the head of Parvati she is beautiful but can turn really quite unpleasant.

10th November 2012, 12:59 AM	#4
Stan S. Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Brooklyn, NY USA Posts: 227	I have to confirm that this is a modern repro/fake that comes from China. I know the seller on ebay carrying these and was eyeing one for myself a while back. It's a nice mace for sure but definetely not an antique

10th November 2012, 08:08 AM	#5
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,183	good, as i suspected, i wanted a reproduction anyway. i stumbled across it while searching for this repro. i found the co. that supplied them for the movie (van helsing). it cost me more that the indo-chinese one. anyhow, now i don't have to worry about messing up a real antique. at least the 'previous owner' didn't seem to dent mine. berk, your photos are better too.

23rd November 2012, 09:22 AM	#6
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,183	well, the indian mace actually arrived yesterday. not quite so 'cleaned' as in the pictures. a bit of green gunge with a half hearted attempt to chemically patinate the head. the shaft that appears silvery in the photo is actually cast integrally with the rest. all bronze; tested with a strong magnet. cleaned off the phoney verdegris & it looks a lot better. actually feels fairly good in the hand & it's a shame it arrived a tad late for experimental pumpkin bashing.