.jpg?w=1)
LATE 15TH/EARLY 16TH CENTURY, PROBABLY GERMAN
Details
A POLLAXE
Late 15th/early 16th Century, probably German
The head of bright steel, comprising a four-pointed hammer-head balanced by a stout beak-shaped fluke, both inlaid with strips of latten, the latter chiselled with a pair of eyes at the base giving it the appearance of a bird's beak (French bec de corbin), short stout spear-shaped spike made in one with a stirrup fitting over the centre of the hammer-head and secured by a crossbolt with a pyramidal head on each side, its lower end pierced with trefoils and terminating in scallops, the head engraved throughout with lines and dots, two later side-straps, and modern wooden staff
9 in. (22.8 cm.) head
Late 15th/early 16th Century, probably German
The head of bright steel, comprising a four-pointed hammer-head balanced by a stout beak-shaped fluke, both inlaid with strips of latten, the latter chiselled with a pair of eyes at the base giving it the appearance of a bird's beak (French bec de corbin), short stout spear-shaped spike made in one with a stirrup fitting over the centre of the hammer-head and secured by a crossbolt with a pyramidal head on each side, its lower end pierced with trefoils and terminating in scallops, the head engraved throughout with lines and dots, two later side-straps, and modern wooden staff
9 in. (22.8 cm.) head
Literature
B. Bruno and O. Gamber, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien. Katalog Der Leibrstkammer, I, Vienna, 1976, p. 93.