A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with metal head, spiked at one end. A carved wooden handle, a small lighter section at the bottom with a coat of arms. There are then two flowers carved higher up the handle and two depictions of people at the top.

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.