Original Item: Only One Available. An Axe is a tool, there are many types of axes for many different jobs. The market is awash with modern reproduction Executioner's Axes but 99% are based on pure fantasy. Many original medieval axes were purpose made for specialized purposes but today are passed off as for severing heads.
In the fourteen hundreds, beheading was the traditional death sentence, whereas Nobility were dispatched using a sword, most notably Anne Boleyn second wife of English King Henry the VIII. Common folk, however, were sent to the Axe.
By the late 1700s and the time of the French Revolution an mechanical device known as the Guillotine had been adopted all over France as it was considered more humane. Medieval Europe depended on the local headsman with his axe, and every large town had an executioner.
What we offer here is a genuine museum de-acquisition; a classic headsman's axe. The blade extends well down toward the headsman which allows for a far surer strike. It is amazing how on some occasions it required several blows to remove just one small head.
The blade's is edge is about 13 1/2", branching from a 6" socket which was attached to the top of a short wood haft, now absent. The head was probably made from steel folded over, and some of the fold lines can still be seen. The socket unfortunately has degraded and rusted through in places, but it is still very impressive. Weight of the head is approximately 4 lbs.
Our example displays centuries of extreme pitting, however it still has its original FOUR Armorer's marks, stamped in all on the right side of the blade. If we could make out the markings accurately, it might be possible to identify the "town" this blacksmith worked in. Unfortunately the markings are just not clear enough for the naked eye, even with a magnifying glass.
This is a heavy object, it can only be used for one purpose and it is clearly several hundred years old. It came from an extremely reputable source and is just as one would expect and hope for. A Display Item that really has heads turning if not actually rolling. Fascinating!
