Ciupaga (Shepherd's axe)

[kronckew]

Picked this one up from ebay, it's from Zakopane in southern poland, not far from the slovakian border. (i've got three others plus a few steel fokos which are similar). one of my grannys came from not too far away - when it was part of austria-hungary. i was hooked by the eagle head spike opposite the blade, which is brass. (alpine spike on the butt of the haft). they normally have a flat poll.

they used to make them out of steel, sharpened, and used by the shepherds to defend against wolves. 4 as well as 2 legged. also used to end disputes. or as a hiking stick, it's primary purpose. they degenerated to brass as the authorities started to frown on sharp steel weapons being carried by the lower classes. the shepherds, having little to do most of the time, would carve the hafts into elaborate decorations, and colour them.

more recently they are mostly made entirely out of wood and the decorations are painted on - for those who travel. sadly, the metal headed ones no longer used (openly) as weapons, tho still carried by some traditionalist shepherds & farmers. about a metre long.

[fernando]

How old could this axe be, Wayne ?

[kronckew]

they sometimes have dates carved into them, i'll know more when it arrives. probably less than 100 yrs, ie. 'vintage' at a guess 40-50 yrs old.

they're from the mountain regions of Carpathia (werewolf and vampire counrty ) in Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania. they are called fokos, ciupga, rabanica, uobuszek, cekanka, or valaška, depending on the region. Generic term is 'shepherd's axe'.

some of my other shepherd's axes: assorted ages the oldest i think is the tiger striped one, it has a brass head, fairly sharp edge, but has a sheet metal blade guard that covers the edge and is screwed on to the blade - a requirement added post ww1, i've heard. later/earlier ones dispense with it. later ones post ww2 are very dull, earlier ones were very sharp and dangerous, and generally steel. the earlier ones have a steel alpine spike with a tang set into a hole in the end and collared with a brass or steel bolster. later ones have an integral socketed spike stuck on the butt. i suspect the tiger stripe is from the 30's. the steel bearded fokos is fairly new. i hafted it am couple of years ago. the one underneath with the ash haft still barked is made with a bronze head. the head was reportedly a roman one from the balkans that i got at a to-good-to-be-true price. i tell people it is so old that the haft has been replaced 5 times and the head twice.

[fernando]

Yes, 'vintage' ... and ethno !

[kronckew]

european ethno

[kronckew]

ciupaga arrived, semi-sharp brass head, haft well carved, 'ZAKOPANE' carved on one side, no date. brass but spike inset in butt, sheet brass bolster. languet and rings are brass, some tarnish between the rings & along the middle. brass head appears shiny new, but is covered in a clear varnish as is the wood.

appears to be a traditionally made ciupage for those who visit zakopane in their travels. latter half of the 20th c. or so...ie. fairly new. will make a nice hiking stick. i imagine it will scare the bears, panthers and wolves as i hike the wilds of the cotswold mountains here. i probably won't see a one, they'll be too scared.

[broadaxe]

Aaaahhh, I collect them too. They may be found even with a legit aluminum head, that can be tell by the white tarnish and crude finish.
As a rule of thumb, only the Polish cuipagga is fitted with rings along its top spine; post WWII have fewer small diameter rings (usually of brass) while older ones have more rings of larger diameter, made of steel and overlapping each other.
My oldest one is dated 1888 and I have another one (finely made a looks like a custom presentation piece, not a touristic item)dated 1976 which I bought in Bratislava.
The photo is from 1910 hungary.

[Enmetena]

This is rather made for tourists. But I have some depictions from 17th cent:



First picture is probably late 16th cent woodcut depicting some party scene. Except not using sharp weapons so often, nothing really changed in mountains in this matter
Next two are from late 17th early 18th cent.
Drawings of axes are from Berestechko battle site (1651). You can see similar axes but I think slightly bigger.

[kronckew]

'won' another ebay orphan. no other bidders, cost less than postage.

brass head with edelweiss flower motif, plain haft, alpine spike.
no details yet. looks unfinished in photo. head looks loose. haft may have shrunk & need resetting. from estate sale. will try better photos on arrival.

[broadaxe]

scroll down here, you will find some interesting things:
http://tatcalite.tripod.com/id68.htm

[kronckew]

arrived. head is loose as suspected but won't come all the way off. maybe a good soak in BLO will swell it.

33 in. long, more slender undecorated but old-looking haft than my others, substantial steel alpine spike of square x-section is set in a separate steel bolster, both with a dark patina. head has a nice 'used' patina, isn't the matt it appears to be in the above photo, more brassy look...

i think this one is more vintage than the earlier fancy one, if not antique.