Skip to main content
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
Axehead
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Axehead

Culture
Dateabout 1000–1500
Mediumiron
Dimensions10.2 × 19.1 cm (4 × 7 1/2 in.), 3 lb, 8 oz (weight)
ClassificationsArms and Armor
Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection
Object number2014.676
DescriptionOf iron, with a slightly inclined upper flat edge and a sharply arched lower edge, meeting at a convex cutting edge. The heavy axehead is wedge-shaped viewed from above. The head is flat at the rear, which extends down in a sharp point. The head is pierced for a staff, with an ovoid hole that tapers to its base. The heavy, wedgelike blade is almost certain to have been for woodcutting rather than combat.
ProvenancePurchased by the Museum from Sumner Healey (NYC), his no. C-55, on 20 March 1931. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.
On View
Not on view
Flat Axehead
about 2300–1600 BCE
Halberd
German
1500–1525
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
Swiss
probably 1600s
Side A
Northern European
late 1400s
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
Eastern European
late 1500s
Battle Axe
European
possibly 1200s
Axehead (yue)
Chinese
probably Shang Dynasty, 1766–1122 BCE
Boarding Sword
Italian
about 1500–1525
Reference Image - Not for Reproduction
Northern Italian
1560–1570