Original Item: Only One Available. This is a substantial hand-forged iron axe head dating approximately to the 14th through 16th century, retaining a blacksmith’s or maker’s mark on one side deep in the pitting, painted white to help it stand out. The head survives in heavily oxidized relic condition with deep pitting, edge loss, and damage to the rear portion, while the original wooden haft is no longer present. Its form and stamped marks are consistent with early modern European working axes, although the precise country of manufacture cannot presently be established.

As the axe head was excavated, there is the expected heavy pitting and oxidation present. It does not appear that any attempts were made to restore or clean it, just the way you like to find them, “as is”. The length of the head of the axe measures approximately 9 inches with an edge width of 6 7/8 inches. The edge has heavy nicking from oxidation. One side appears to be stamped with a four-piece patterned stamp, which has been painted white. A good research project.

The greatest collector interest lies in the combination of the early hand-forged construction, substantial surviving profile, and blacksmith’s mark struck on one side. Although its precise workshop and national origin remain unresolved, the axe is a useful study piece representing the locally forged iron tools that formed an essential part of everyday European material culture during the 15th and 16th centuries. We have no way of actually dating something like this, so we have offered our best educated guess.