RARE 16TH CENTURY POLISH BATTLEAXE CZEKAN

Iron head 4 5/8” height with backswept bit and deeply reeded socket. Each face with medial chevron in relief, below a broad relief band with inset brass top border. The area below with triangles. The head-worn and some of the lower decoration lost to sharpening in its working life. 25 ½” length. The haft with maroon velvet covering (renewed), iron butt cap, and grip ring. The configuration of the grips of many weapons, including the hock bottle form grips of Medieval broadswords, served to allow positioning of the hand or hands in the heat of battle when taking an eye off an adversary could be fatal. Correctly griping was essential to optimum function. The grip ring here served to define the grip when the axe, if grabbed from the saddle too short, would be ineffective. A particularly early example as most surviving examples are 17^th and 18^th century.