17TH CENTURY INDIAN BATTLE AXE.

From Tanjore. See Stone fig.101 #4 and item #3 this catalog. 22 3/4" overall length. Turned wood haft with banded grip and ball terminal, reinforced from the grip to the head with an iron spine secured with riveted copper floral rosettes. Iron head with square section socket and thick wedge section axe blade of backswept form. Shows its great age throughout with a few old chips to the haft, and a medial crack secured with copper pins in its working life. The head with a little surface rust, and a few nicks from use. Forging crack to the socket with the head slightly pulled away at that point. Virtually untouched from its centuries in a south Indian arsenal. The major Tanjore wars of the period were the territorial conquests of Ragunatha Nayak in the 1620s and Maratha Wars of the 1670s. This axe may have served in both as well as other conflicts.

Layaway is available for this item.