Halberd
Cultureprobably
Swiss
Date1600–1650
Mediumetched and blackened steel, brass, and wood
Dimensions226 × 80.7 cm (89 × 31 3/4 in.), 4 lb, 10 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.172
DescriptionIron. Very long quadranglar thrusting spike, faces etched on lower 1/2 with running foliate tendrils on plain backened ground. Small crescentic axehead squared at terminals & pierced with 2 groups of 3 holes each above & below. Opposed by chisel-shaped & cusped fluke. Closed conical socket of gently faceted hexagonal section attached to modern octagonal section wooden staff with pair of modern iron langets. Head decorated with central cartouche bearing arms of Bern(?) within pelleted octagonal frame; itself bordered by brass inlay. Similar framing on both axehead & fluke whose faces are etched with foliation & grotesques on blackened stippled ground. Faces of socket similarly treated, but with 3 helmeted heads, 2 in profile.ProvenancePurchased by the Museum on June 5, 1930 from Ernst Schmidt, Munich, Germany. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on viewCollections
1625–1650
about 1680