Early axe

[rich pierce]

Here is an axe I picked up at an estate sale.  Though in Missouri, the tags the collector had on them indicated a lot of his stuff was from Pennsylvania.  Ideas on date and where it was likely made?  It has a huge eye.  The steel bit is quite deep, covering about half the blade.

[gizamo]

Rich....

Check with Ken Hamilton.... looks French to me.

Nice find.

[mr. no gold]

I have several like this; a couple are even hafted. No indication on any of them as to who, what, when, and where they were made.  I have always just assumed that they were frontier made in the East during the 1700s to mid 1800s for the Indian trade, or pioneer use. Lots of fakes out there apparently. I bought two heads from Jim Dressler, and have never questioned their authenticity. This one looks totally right and it's nice to see it with a handle. Doesn't happen all that often given all that hard use back then.
There is a trade axe website that gives some information, but not sure that everything presented is correct. Thank you for bringing your nice find here, and if you learn more, please share it with us folks.
Dick

[skillman]

I've had this bookmarked for some time. Since I found it here I think. Worth a look see.
http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com/index.html

Steve

[Levy]

A very nice Axe!  I can only add that I have cleaned and preserved several of this type both from Spanish Mission sites in Florida and also from Spanish shipwrecks around the coast.  They were all from the 1600's or early 1700's.  I think you still find this style of axe used in parts of Mexico and South America.  Some have had makers marks, but not names.  One that was recovered from a Spanish Mission site had a weeping heart chiseled into it.  I think it was a popular style that was copied.  An observation on the shape of the eye is that it may have been flattened on the back from hammering.  It may have been more oval in shape originally.

James Levy

[gizamo]

Rich..

Take a look here.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1053579-French-axes-and-tomahawks-in-French-colonial-North-America

[rich pierce]

Thanks for the leads. This one is not in relic shape at all.  The very round poll of huge diameter seems an early feature, but the depth of the steel on the bit seems a later feature.  Unless an axe is dug or has markings, I guess there will always some difficulty in attribution.