This is the original, folks! This very axe set a world record price when it sold at Tony Murland's auction for 17,600 pounds in 2005, after having been discovered in a house in The Dordogne. The description from that sale: A medieval iron axe with the face of a bearded knight on one side and a fighting cock on the reverse. An image of his squire appears in his beard. Without doubt a contender for the finest tool in the world. An extraordinarily beautiful and important antiquity, but there is more ... Every facet of its surface has a gentle luminosity. It is, by turns, a window into medieval life, a piece of sculpture, a landscape of reflection, a personal biography, an archeological dig, a tidal totemic manifesto of European history and finally an honest and uncomplicated cutting tool." You can see the separation line ahead of the eye where the two sides were forge welded. There is also some delamination at the bevel of the cutting edge where the good steel meets the rest. 6 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches. Incredible!
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![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118U_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Ua_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Ub_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Uc_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Ud_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Ue_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Uf_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
![The Most Famous Tool in the World! Medieval Sculpted Figural Iron Axe circa 1650 EXTRAORDINARY! - 80118U](http://www.jimbodetools.com/cdn/shop/products/80118Ug_1200x.jpg?v=1526953209)
This is the original, folks! This very axe set a world record price when it sold at Tony Murland's auction for 17,600 pounds in 2005, after having been discovered in a house in The Dordogne. The description from that sale: A medieval iron axe with the face of a bearded knight on one side and a fighting cock on the reverse. An image of his squire appears in his beard. Without doubt a contender for the finest tool in the world. An extraordinarily beautiful and important antiquity, but there is more ... Every facet of its surface has a gentle luminosity. It is, by turns, a window into medieval life, a piece of sculpture, a landscape of reflection, a personal biography, an archeological dig, a tidal totemic manifesto of European history and finally an honest and uncomplicated cutting tool." You can see the separation line ahead of the eye where the two sides were forge welded. There is also some delamination at the bevel of the cutting edge where the good steel meets the rest. 6 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches. Incredible!