Axe for ID

[fernando]

Ah, ah, no lucky dog yet, Captain .
Indeed there was a pair of them. This local fellow collector spotted both; bought one for himself and reserved the other one, thinking of me. I hope the seller still has it when he goes there to fetch it.
They don't have to be Portuguese or Spanish. France and England are not so distant. But according to the seller they belonged to a Portuguese Navy officer; he might have brought them from his unit's wall decoration or the like ... something not so uncommon.
Let me have it in my hand; will take better pictures and maybe we can develop further.

[CutlassCollector]

Congratulations Fernando - great axe and I'm as jealous as Mark.

Definitely a boarding axe. Very British handle and pick but unusual crescent shaped blade. There are several similar ones out there. I've attached one. British maker but not sure of date, but yours looks older anyway.
Best CC.

[fernando]

Here are detailed pictures ... and some support text.
I would not know whether this could a be a Portuguese or Spanish model.
After searching on Hachas de Abordaje (castillian) i found some examples, from which i am posting the one that should be in service in the same period ... which is so different than the example in discussion.
No results were found searching in portuguese, using the possible name variations, starting by Machado de Abordagem, then Machado de Marinha followed by other possibilities. I will have to dig further into such probability.
As already expressed here, the pick is similar to 1800's British pattern, but the blade has a distinct shape.
One thing we know is that this is not some sort of prototype, as the other one coming from the same provenance has the same shape ... only the handle being apparently made of a not so dark wood.
Mark's suggestion that this could be a private purchase stands open; but consider that its (last) owner was a Navy officer.
The pick has an 'offset' edge, one of the sides being more angled than the other, almost flat.
The right face of the blade has a more rustic forging.
There are three grooves in the handle near the lanyard orifice, but they are so superficial that almost faded away.
It is not impossible that a certain 'flaw' on the pick be a maker's mark; it has some lines too geometrical to be a default, resembling an estucheon.
Weight: 918 grams.
Handle length: 59 cms.
Langets length: 14 cms.
Blade & pick dimensions: 20 X 13 cms.


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[CutlassCollector]

Great pictures Fernando and a very interesting axe.

The way the handle is tapered down to the axe head, swells for the hands and then tapers again at the ball end is very British as is the shape of the spike, like Mark says.

We don't normally associate the crescent shape with Brit axes but there is one in the Pitt Rivers museum, the one in my post above and also one in Col Rankin's "Small Arms of the Sea Services" book and this one is marked Brooke Brothers, Sheffield, England. These date to around 1830 - 1840 but all have lighter, sharper spikes and shorter handles.
I think your axe is very likely British and perhaps earlier than these mentioned with the older type handle and spike.

Or it could just be a Portuguese axe!


I can't tell anything about the mark although it would be unusual to have a marking on the spike.


Regards, CC

[M ELEY]

Do my eyes play tricks on me, or is there a 'broad arrow' marking on your blade, 'Nando? I see the escution mark you mention, but I'm referring to the light tracing on the flat of the blade itself. BTW, thanks for posting that Spanish example and am glad to finally have a look at one! As far as naval vs privateer, would love to have clarity on this issue myself!

CC, glad you mentioned that Pitt Rivers museum piece. I had forgotten about that one. So crescent blades did occasionally appear on Brit pieces, but I'm assuming more privateer. I've posted pics of my boarding ax in the past. Would love to repost it here to see what you think about provenance, CC, whenever I get a chance. It has a bearded edge like the hache de borde with front and rear-facing langets, but its eye is round and the spike like the classic Brit examples.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

...Great pictures Fernando and a very interesting axe... Or it could just be a Portuguese axe! ... I can't tell anything about the mark although it would be unusual to have a marking on the spike...

Thank you CC.
The news are that the Portuguese seem to have adopted the diminutive feminine for the naming of the boarding axe, certainly to distinguish it from the long handle ones, which had and have different purposes.
So we have that the name is Machadinha, contextualy called Machadinha de Abordagem. Browsing with these names one finds several publications on the subject, like narratives of episodes of sea battles as also interesting inventories of battle ships of the period. Pity that so far i didn't manage to spot pictures of such axes.
Still is interesting to read those lists of armament equipping the ships, where axes existed in large quantities.
One such example is Nau (ship) Santo Antonio e São José, a vessel with 182 feet length and a crew of 611, while having 60 axes in 04 August 1781, had its quantity amazingly increased to 100 units in October 1785.
Concerning the hypothetical mark, i admit it could be a forging flaw, notwithstanding that smiths marks may also appear on spikes; or at least we see them in pole arms. I am checking with the guy that holds the other example, in case this ‘thing’ also appears in it. Today i gave a slight cleaning to my axe and my impression that it may well be some symbol still stands.

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[fernando]

Originally Posted by fernando

... Still is interesting to read those lists of armament equipping the ships, where axes existed in large quantities.
One such example is Nau (ship) Santo Antonio e São José, a vessel with 182 feet length and a crew of 611, while having 60 axes in 04 August 1781, had its quantity amazingly increased to 100 units in October 1785...

On the other hand is easy to realize when the use of this tool/weapon started to decline.
We can read in ArmasBrazil...
http://www.armasbrasil.com/SecXIX/No...machadinha.htm
that, during the (Portuguese) empire (1822-1889), the number of machadinhss that were distributed was already more modest: 40 units to large ships and 12 to smaller barges. They were removed from the vessels in 1892, based on their obsoletism, being replaced by firearms and actual fire axes.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... Do my eyes play tricks on me, or is there a 'broad arrow' marking on your blade, 'Nando? ...

Well Mark, one of us is definitely being tricked by his eyes
What i see is a few grooves and spots, result of rough forging texture. But i see what you meant, though .

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... BTW, thanks for posting that Spanish example and am glad to finally have a look at one! !..

Don't mention it; and if you use the link i inserted in the picture, you will see a few more examples, although not in the same context, together with some boarding pikes .. and you have a chance to practice your castillian .

[CutlassCollector]

Hi Fernando,

That is a much better shot of the mark, looks like too many right angles in it to be accidental so perhaps it is a makers symbol. Was there a mark on the other axe?

Also thanks for the Portuguese translation, I cannot find many pictures either. The Spanish link was very informative. I have seen one axe with a single "O" stamp on the centre of the axe head does that indicate a particular Spanish maker?

Regards, CC