A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with metal head, spiked at one end. A carved wooden handle, the bottom section has some more carved detailing along side a coat of arms containg two hammers and a date, 1691. There are other carvings including a neeling man, a flower and a picture of person.

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.