A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with metal head, spiked at one end. The handle is dark with some lighter sections, the bottom of this depicts two hammmers with 1678(?) written on it. The rest of the handle is darker with carved sections, including one depicting flowers, it has various ligher spots on it.

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.