A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with metal head, spiked at one end. Carving breaks the handle down into seven sections, all roughly the same size. the bottom two and the top one depict flowers. Two depict people and two depict weapons.

Axes, such as these, were traditionally borne in procession as emblematic of their calling by the members of the miners' guilds in Saxony, Germany. They are all dated between 1664 and 1749, and the handles are engraved with views of mining operations.