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Details
LOT 1440
Teutonic Order Iron War Axe with Maker's Mark
13TH-14TH CENTURY A.D.
7 in. (805 grams, 17.8 cm).
Mazovian or Teutonic Order, hand-forged with rectangular-section socket and expanding bearded blade; a maker's mark to one side of the blade and an openwork three-lobed flower tapering towards the blade; four notches on the upper part of the socket; professionally cleaned, conserved and restored. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Ex property of a London businessman, from his grandfather's collection formed after World War II; thence by descent 1972.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
See Glosek, M., Późnośredniowieczna broń obuchowa w zbiorach polskich, Warszawa-Łódź, 1996, pls.VII-VIII, especially VIII lett.C.
Footnotes
This typology of axes (type Ig of the Glosek classification) was in use throughout Europe in the 13th-14th centuries. This axe is similar to one excavated during an archaeological survey of the castle at Czersk, dated to the 13th-14th century A.D. Close parallels have also been found in Elbląg, a famous commandery of the Teutonic Order from 1237 to 1454 A.D. The stronghold served as a seat of the Masters of the Teutonic Order.
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