I'll have to admit to only glancing at MR catalogs lately but this seems like a newish item to me.

http://www.museumreplicas.com/p-2397-bec-de-corbin.aspx

I have handled a few MRL polearms and had adopted a war hammer that has a surprisingly good form I am wondering if anyone can place the current bec de corbin with a historical find. Or is it a kind of stretch? If nothing else, it looks like a good amount of metalwork for the price and in the back of my mind looking at it as a project piece.

Has anyone had one of these in hand yet?

Thoughts?

Provenance?

Cheers

GC

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file from Museum Replicas

I haven't held the Bec de Corbin yet.
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Both the shape of the hammer and the completely flat face on it don't look right to me, especially the flat face.

You usually want it patterned in some way so there is less chance of it glancing off the target, if it doesn't bite at all you won't transfer much force (unless you happen to hit the target surface exactly perpendicular, which is unlikely if your opponent moves around).

Whether it is based on an original I do not know, though I'd doubt that given the overall looks. My guess would be that it is heavily inspired by 2-3 originals and a mixture of those. I'm absolutely certain I've seen those exact trefoil langets on something else, but I can't remember where.

I like the looks of it, might take a chance once it shows up in Kult of Athena's inventory (usually better prices, and they scrutinize the mercy. before it goes into the box). The dimensions make it sound like a pretty substantial head! A little (a lot?) of file work to the hammer face, replace the haft and add a butt cap, and I'd at least have a sexy parade arm. Add some tassels and flowers and it's wedding-at-the-castle material...