A GERMAN HALBERD, DATED 1606

This halberd with its flamboyant, almost mystical form is from a rare but well known group. At least three other examples, one also dated 1606, are known. The head is a tour de force of the forgers art requiring numerous forged seams and joints. It's largely forged finished with some of the detail and piercing accomplished with the chisel. The maker has marked his work on the left with a crisp mark of a rampant lion beneath the date 1606. The use of a date within a mark suggest that it has significance other than identifying the maker. In this instance, it is probably that the halberds were made for a particular event, perhaps a coronation or wedding, and the lion is an armorial device drawn from the arms of its noble master whose identity is now, obscured in history. The haft bears an incised cross and vertical bar each side. 95 3/4" overall length.