Old axe from ???

[kronckew]

found this old one handed axe, looks germanic/hungarian to me, someone suggested scandiwegian.

75 cm. long, metal haft fittings, leather lanyard loop broken. no further info. should arrive next weekish.

any idea what time period or area it came from? looks more horsman/hussar than infantry to me.

thanks for any suggestions/info.

[BBJW]

I've seen an axe very similar that was from the area of Prussia/Poland. My guess would be Central or Eastern Europe. As to age I would say pre percussion firearms.- bj

[kronckew]

thanks for the info BBJW. confirms a few suspicions/hopes i had.

[CutlassCollector]

Nice axe. A forward stabbing function is always a good asset on a combat axe. It reminds me of some of the blade shapes of early Swedish boarding axes.

CC

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

Nice axe. A forward stabbing function is always a good asset on a combat axe. It reminds me of some of the blade shapes of early Swedish boarding axes.

CC

i saw those on the boarding axe site, they are quite cool axes. sadly mine ha no spike or languets or i might think 'navy'...

[Roland_M]

This could be a digger parade axe from Germany or nearby.

If you search for "Bergbarte" or "Bergmannsaxt" (german terms for miner axe) on Google, you will find many similar examples.

Just a guess, your example is a little unusual.


Roland

[kronckew]

a lot of similarities, and also a lot not at all alike - i've seen miner's parade axes before, have a walking stick one with a small decorative cast brass head & crossed hammers in a circle on the blade, flat bottom, ball on the end of the upright 'spike' put away somewhere. some wagoners axes (doloire) are even more similar, but larger more symmetrical & short hafted. seems to be a fairly common germanic/central european/hungarian style. the perforations may have some emeaning (holy trinity?).

anyhow, i'll provide better pics and dimensions, weight etc. when it arrives in a few days. might have a stamp or other decor not on the one pic i have. so far we've eliminated iberia, france, UK, italy, also probably not balkan or turkish, or russian.

[kronckew]

axe arrived. cutting edge is quite sharp, convex. couple small nicks.lower rounded part is not sharp, neither is the back of the point, all rounded rather than flat. eye is enclosed rather nthgan open. a silver pin is used to keep the head on. grip rings are copper, except the 'pommel' one is steel and open on the base where the strap ends were... sadly strap fell apart into powder as i unpacked it. haft has been varnished. three holes appear punched and countersunk rather than drilled.

weight is 1165 grams, or 2.56 lb. (or 41 oz.)
haft is 34.5 in. from tip of the socket to the pommel end. roughly 1 3/16 in. dia. at the socket, grip section 1 in. dia. in the grooves. socket 3 in. pommel piece 2 in., edge is 8 5/8 in. top to bottom, roughly 4 in. across. the blade x-section tapers from the socket to the edge as a shallow triangle and is about 1/2 in. thick where it joins the socket.

appears to be a heavy weapon rather than a tool or parade axe.

[broadaxe]

Please post some close-up photos.

[kronckew]

yup, a slightly more distressed version of mine. sadly a live auction for 12 hrs, so we can't post anything about it yet. rather vague description.

[kronckew]

meanwhile, some close-ups of mine:

[kronckew]

more: (i added a brown braided cord for hanging it, to replace the leather lanyard loop that disintegrated.

[kronckew]

"ANTIQUE MEDIEVAL STYLE FIGHTING AX GERMAN ENGLISH POLISH HUNGARIAN sword dagger" found online - that description pins it down. ()

head dimensions are very close to mine, haft a couple inches shorter and not gussied up like mine. edges of the axe head's body are squared, eye is open, not closed, not rounded as in mine. mine appears to be a more finished version.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by kronckew

"ANTIQUE MEDIEVAL STYLE FIGHTING AX GERMAN ENGLISH POLISH HUNGARIAN sword dagger" found online - that description pins it down. ()...

Sorry the impertinence Wayne but, let me prevent myself from being lost; is yours an actual antique or a vintage replica .

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by fernando

Sorry the impertinence Wayne but, let me prevent myself from being lost; is yours an actual antique or a vintage replica .

...or even an antique (victorian) replica? but replicating what? mine has forging marks, and drift hammered holes, the more distressed one appears to have drilled perfectly circular holes, and cut edges. which is which? hopefully we shall find out.

[CutlassCollector]

The distressed one definitely looks like a modern replica designed to fool. '...style' being probably the only useful word in the description!

How does your one look Wayne, in the way of seams, welds etc, that may give a better clue to its age.

Regards, CC

[kronckew]

well, can't see any seams or welds, if there are any, they've been well hand polished out. i'm assuming the blade was welded to the socket somehow, all the surfaces are nicely filleted and rounded off and smoothed. the tapered blade was not made from flat stock either. as far as the eye goes, it could have been all one piece, tho that would take a heck of a blacksmith. (or finisher). even the socket's rivet is flush and smooth, tho it appears to be a different metal & brighter.

[kronckew]

stumbled on this while googling something else,

from a certain high quality maker of replica and reproduction edged weapons in central europe, while not wanting to discuss the replica, it looks substantially like mine, tho for some reason the blade is riveted to the socket instead of welding in theirs - which i do not like. anyhow it is supposedly a replica of a "Battle axe - Central Europe - 13th-15th century".

at this point i think that's as close a description of mine as we're going to get unless we get some new info. how old remains a question. the haft of course may have been replaced over the years if it was on display as a museum piece.