Property from a Central European Collection A RARE GERMAN GOTHIC POL-AXE, SECOND HALF OF THE 15TH CENTURY with moulded head drawn-out to four prongs, stamped with a mark on each side at the top (indistinct, one prong chipped), slightly down-curved robust rear spike chiselled at the base with a pair of petal-like mouldings, the head fitted with a stout transverse spike on each side and central blade of flattened-diamond section (areas of light pitting, the blade and one spike possibly associated), a pair of long broad straps, on a later faceted wooden haft studded over the greater parts of its surface with fluted brass studs and six stylised bees arranged in two groups 44cm; 17 3/8in head Provenance Schloss Erbach, Odenwald, sold Galerie Fischer, 1932, lot 23 Baron Hans de Schulthess (1885-1951) Sold in this room 10th December 2008, lot 171 Two related examples are preserved in the Deutsche Historisches Museum, Berlin. See Müller and Kölling 1990, no. 116, 117.