Many thanks for attaching those images. I must admit that the criss-cross leather strapping has me puzzled. I noticed this feature on boar spears displayed in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, where the labels on most examples say that they are old heads on newer shafts. I did wonder if the strapping was an original feature - now I can see it IS, from those old illustrations.
It still seems to me to be a bit impractical. You would think that the leather would very quickly get into a disgusting state, very difficult to clean after use. In the examples with a cross-bar this might be less of a problem. Is there actually a practical reason for adding this strapping, or was it really just decoration ?
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