A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with metal head, spiked at one end. Wooden handle is carved and has a large darker section, in the darker section there are four carved areas two depicting flowers. The bottom appears to have a coat of arms on a lighter wooden section.

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.