boar spear

[LJ]

I will happily take more photos, but I'm afraid I must leave you all in suspense until next week, when I have access to the collection again.

Of course, I should have thought about this before first posting ... sorry !

[Enmetena]

Looks like 16th cent German boar spears. Here You can see similar ones:





As You can see Yours lacks bone crossbar under the spearhead.

[LJ]

Many thanks for attaching those images. I must admit that the criss-cross leather strapping has me puzzled. I noticed this feature on boar spears displayed in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, where the labels on most examples say that they are old heads on newer shafts. I did wonder if the strapping was an original feature - now I can see it IS, from those old illustrations.

It still seems to me to be a bit impractical. You would think that the leather would very quickly get into a disgusting state, very difficult to clean after use. In the examples with a cross-bar this might be less of a problem. Is there actually a practical reason for adding this strapping, or was it really just decoration ?

[A Senefelder]

where the labels on most examples say that they are old heads on newer shafts.

This is because it was not altogether uncommon in the 19th century during the medieval/gothic revival to rehaft older period pole arm heads ( I've onwed a few of these over the years ) and copy the leather wrapping. Tasseling under the socket and covering the new shaft in fabric ( velvet was popular ) were also common features of the better redos. Doesn't mean this one has undergone that but its the reason for the attributation at Leeds.

[fernando]

Boar spears at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

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[Enmetena]

Don't know for sure but bone crossbars are attached by those straps. It does not however explains why those straps are so long, so probably there was also decorative factor.

Here are two more boar spears from Venceslaus Hollar engravings (mid 17th cent)

Rafal