Ax with long shaft
iron sheet, wooden shaft with ivory inlays, emblem of the Electoral Saxony with the letters ‘M S’ and the year ‘1678’ at the shaft
Such an ax with a long shaft — a so-called ‘Bergbarte’ — forms part of the dress uniform of mineworkers. The mineworkers commonly carried them over their shoulder when participating in a miners’ parade. This ceremonial ax refers to the miners’ medieval right to bear a weapon.