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Angela Lora Chapa
Location: Dallas, Tx Joined: 13 May 2017
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 2:44 pm Post subject: I need help with identifying this unusual weapon... |
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I have been told this could possibly be very old due to the pitting of the metal. The wood is obviously not original. I can't find any information on it and do not know where to start... Can anyone offer any insight? Age? Origin? Value? Type of weapon?
It is 22 inches long by 4 inches wide at its widest point. Not counting the part that attaches just the blade... Including the attachers it is 6 inches wide. It is very heavy but I don't know the exact weight,
Thank you.
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Angela Lora Chapa
Location: Dallas, Tx Joined: 13 May 2017
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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Here is another picture...
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Angela Lora Chapa
Location: Dallas, Tx Joined: 13 May 2017
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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Last picture... Hope somebody knows about it... I've been trying to find out for a long time.
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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The cross decoration on the blade is awfully crisp to be on a very old ax head. Doesn't seem to be a lot of corrosion around it.
If the weapon is extremely heavy, weighing so much that you cannot control it easily then that is another indication that the blade is not antique. Any pole arm or any other blade for that matter, that was too heavy to swing, miss and recover for another stroke or to block an opponent's counterattack would have been worthless in ancient times. Rust and corrosion do not necessarily make something an antique. That sort of thing can be faked easily.
Do you know the provenance of the piece?
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Mark Moore
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Lin, I was about to say the same thing--almost. It's definitely a bardiche of some kind. It looks a bit like a Scottish Lochaber axe. If it had a hook on top, I would say for sure---but all Lochaber's didn't have hooks. And, I agree, it's not that old. Artificial aging. Interesting.  ....McM
''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
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Hadrian Coffin
Industry Professional
Location: Oxford, England Joined: 03 Apr 2008
Posts: 404
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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It's a Bardiche or a Voulge.. The 'pitting' doesn't look to be pitting from age, but poorly cleaned forge scale. It is a modern replica. I doubt it was ever intended to deceive, but it doesn't have a high value, under a hundred pounds/dollars.
Best,
Hadrian
P.S on the weight issue, these weapons are typically quite heavy --even the authentic ones!
Historia magistra vitae est
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Angela Lora Chapa
Location: Dallas, Tx Joined: 13 May 2017
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it is actually perfectly balanced. and it probably seems heavy to me because I'm 5'2" tall and weigh about 100 lbs. It's not so heavy that I can't swing it easily. I will find a way to weigh it... so you guys think the aging is artificial? Hmmm... and you are right about the crispness of the cross... it is perfectly balanced though...
I do not know where it is from, believe it or not somebody put it out for trash at my condos and I just picked it up and brought it home... It is rather deadly though...Quite a dangerous weapon...
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Zach Gordon
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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Ding..ding..ding! I found an exact match! 
http://otherverse.wikia.com/wiki/Arms_and_Armour:_Polearms
Scroll down to the image for 'Voulge'. It's the exact same polearm! Same marking! That definitely means it is a modern maker. I can't figure out who though, I did a reverse image search and came up blank. Perhaps someone else will have better luck?
Z
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Ben Joy
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2017 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Angela Lora Chapa wrote: | | I do not know where it is from, believe it or not somebody put it out for trash at my condos and I just picked it up and brought it home... It is rather deadly though...Quite a dangerous weapon... |
Given that it was left in the trash, I'm not so sure it was artificial aging . . . probably more along the lines of complete neglect. I tend to be of the belief that artificial aging is done to try to sell off a fake, not throw it out. Of course, the former owner could have found out he had been duped and just threw the thing in the trash.
"Men take only their needs into consideration, never their abilities." -Napoleon Bonaparte
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Stephan Hall
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Zach Gordon
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| Posted: Sun 14 May, 2017 6:59 am Post subject: |
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Stephen Hall, I think that's the same! Prophouse doesn't make any weapons though.. one could email them?
This one is pretty close, but not exact.. though they say each is handmade and that they vary slightly: http://www.celticwebmerchant.com/en/early-bill.html
Z
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Sun 14 May, 2017 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Hadrian Coffin wrote: | It's a Bardiche or a Voulge.. The 'pitting' doesn't look to be pitting from age, but poorly cleaned forge scale. It is a modern replica. I doubt it was ever intended to deceive, but it doesn't have a high value, under a hundred pounds/dollars.
Best,
Hadrian
P.S on the weight issue, these weapons are typically quite heavy --even the authentic ones! |
Ah....I did not pick up on that but it is certainly a sound idea. The fact that it was apparently discarded in the trash certainly supports the idea that it is modern made and not antique.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Terry Thompson
Location: Suburbs of Wash D.C. Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Sun 14 May, 2017 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Hadrian Coffin wrote: | It's a Bardiche or a Voulge.. The 'pitting' doesn't look to be pitting from age, but poorly cleaned forge scale. It is a modern replica. I doubt it was ever intended to deceive, but it doesn't have a high value, under a hundred pounds/dollars.
Best,
Hadrian
P.S on the weight issue, these weapons are typically quite heavy --even the authentic ones! |
I agree with Hadrian. The rust looks active, and the pitting looks like that which is under-worked/under-filed forge work. It doesn't look like intentional aging. Note that there is no pitting on the eyes or along the finished edges. They eyes themselves appear much smoother (Worked more on the anvil than the rest of the piece, filed and sanded smooth). The edges are all nice and crisp as well as the piercing. Also the sharp-edge is also completely devoid of pitting and it looks clean.
If it was several hundred years old, the patina and pitting would be much different and one would presume more uniform.
Though it has active rust on it, it shows evidence of "cleaning" probably with sandpaper would be my guess. I think you're pretty safe in cleaning it up. You wouldn't be ruining a medieval find.
It's a great piece, especially for what you paid for it! I'd probably value it in the $100-$125 range including the pole. Maybe as much as $150 if you do something about the rust.
Congratulations! I know a few people would love to have a piece like that in their replica collection, myself included.
-Terry
Last edited by Terry Thompson on Sun 14 May, 2017 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Mark Moore
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| Posted: Sun 14 May, 2017 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Here is an example of 'artificial aging'--done on high-carbon steel with the aid of salt, lemon juice, time, and the rounded end of a ball-peen hammer. Sorry for the bad pic. Best I can do at the moment.  ....McM
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''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
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