A processional mining tool

A processional mining tool. From Saxony. Carved wooden handle with a metal tip at one end. A right angled section at one end, possibly a handle some carving just down from that and a metal tip at one end.

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.