bardiche
 

Hello,

Got this bardiche moments ago, very heavy and big, it was a coat of arms with the letters "eva" ? what do you guys think about it ? anybody knows the coat of arms ? family ? city ?

Thanks!

I think these things were mostly known to be used by the Russian streltsy? The mark looks like a city coat of arms as the ”crown” consists of a series of fortified towers. The animal looks like a bear. Berlin has a bear in its coat of arms.

The only cities over here with a bear looking to the left are the Suisse cities of Bern and St. Gallen.
corrado26

I think the coat of arms is a city rather than canton. Berlin (see pic) is a long shot. Does the mark show half a bear and water? The EVA lead is also a conundrum. By the way, the letter V does not exist in the Russian alphabet so the origin must be further West.

I'd say that's a lion with a long, serpentine tongue. . . much like those found in heraldic devices. I don't think heraldic bears are often depicted with their tongues lolling out of their mouths.

A closer shot of the stamp, with some judicious side lighting, might help.

To me the animal seems more like a donkey.
As to the letters they could read RVA or SVA. The first letter is not clear.

Hello,

I think the animal is a bear or a wolf!

Tks

BV

Yes there is water in the logo, straight lines and water bellow.

I think Victrix is right (thanks for giving the right direction) this coat of arms has something to do with Berlin, the bear and the castles represent berlin for sure, now there is aditional lines and water an ofcourse the letters.

From my personal exprience with old weapons, this weapon is big (too big to go anywhere with it, the "portable" bardiche's are much more small and light, i know because i have one too ), it's the kind of weapon that remains in a castle or palace to protect it from intrusion, maybe one the polearm's of some palace guard ? maybe the coat of arms is a representation of some military force/guard or a family related to berlin ?

Yes, I agree. Now the image is much more detailed. Also the letters are clearly EVA.

After some cleaning!

By the way ...
 

How old do you guys think this berdiche would be ?

I hate to say it but I think it looks modern. Holes that appear to be drilled with a machine, the thick and heavy blade, hammer marks look similar to other modern forgings. Just one persons opinion and I could be wrong.

You could also be right. I reacted to the second photo which shows quite a lot of what appears to be active rust. Then there’s the metal glint around the holes which suggests that the holes were added later after the item started to rust. But as always, it’s difficult to form an opinion from photos.

Hello,

First of all thanks for all the opinions!

About the holes being drilled after i do not agree, the person/s who build it take in atention several more dificult details, it would make no sense they would leave this weapon (even if it was a modern replica) with no holes, it would not seem a bardiche!

About the weapon not being very old i agree, i have a otoman/russian bardiche as i said earlier this weapons were lightweight and the shaft is not very long, this one is heavy and has a long shaft, i searched and i found out there were a astria/germany version of the bardiche used from the 17th to the 19th century much more big and robust used mostly as a guard pole arm at palaces and castles, having this one a coat of arms in it that appears to be related to Berlin i really think this weapon came from german and was made somewhere in the 19th century as a functional weapon that would have sucess in attacking somebody with a armour instead of a traditional bardiche that doesn't have the necessary weight and rigidity to do it.


Ofcourse i can be wrong in my opinion, this is such a rare weapon that i only manage to found 1 example of a austrian/germany bardiche. If iam wrong i would love to know who made it and buy more weapons from him!

Regards,

BV