Maces, Clubs & Others

Antique Arsenal · 24th August 2010, 02:50 AM

Hi,
My name is Aleks and I am a new member on this forum. I would like to open a discussion about history of maces, clubs and their migration into more symbolic representation of military power and authority (Scepter and Horsetail) in Middle East and Europe. Also, I wanted to show a couple of pieces from my collection hoping that you guys would fill in the gaps I have. I would appreciate any help and advise you can provide.

Even thought maces and clubs have been known since ancient times during the Middle Ages they truly became very popular. Maces and clubs were found to be very effective weapons against soldiers and knights wearing heavy armour such as chain mail and full body plate armour.
Many sources suggest that the mace was developing in Russia and Middle East at the same time. And eventually, in 12th century, it spread to Europe. By 14th century it became widely used by cavalry. Maces had a great variety of different shapes and all of them were used throughout the Middle Ages. In 14 century almost all maces in Europe had cylindrical head. This kind of mace provided an excellent impact area and was easily fixed to the handle. I was so popular that it is hard to imagine a horseman of that period without a mace. Right up until 15th century infantry in Europe used very primitive clubs reinforced with a metal spikes, which were still considered very inexpensive and effective weapon. In time maces became even more popular and up until 17th century noble knights widely used Shestopyor or Pernach (look on the right). They considered a mace to be more honorable weapon than any other percussion weapon, especially since it was already used by many warlords and high ranking officers as a symbol of military authority.
For the most part in Middle East maces were traditional weapons of Tatars and they were used way before 13th century. As was mentioned previously it was perfect for penetrating heavily armed cavalry. In stories about legendary King Louis IX of France or simply Saint Louis maces were mentioned very often to be preferred weapon of the Turkish cavalry.
In time maces gained more of symbolical value then an actual practical weapon. For example, even though scepter look like a mace, it has been known as an ornamental symbol carried by a ruling monarch. In a maneer of of speaking it is considered to be one of the royal relics.
Like scepter so called Horsetail or Buncuk had a purely symbolical value and represented military power and authority of commanding officers, chieftains and even Sultans. As far as I know word “Buncuk” evolved from Turkish language but initially it was brought to Middle East by Tatar-Mongolian invaders in 13th century. Later on Ottoman (Turkish) empire spread its use to Eastern Europe, countries like Poland.
Suddenly in 20 century this lethal weapon reappeared in trench warfare of WWI. All sides found maces and clubs to be extremely effective and most importantly quite weapon. Maces and Clubs were incorporated in trench raiding strategy. For the most part they were produced by local blacksmiths in closest settlements and some were actually manufactured in Germany and Great Brittan.

VANDOO · 24th August 2010, 06:29 PM

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

I COLLECT CLUBS SO IT IS IN THE SAME CATAGORY AND THE GRANDFATHER OF THE MACE. I HAVE LITTLE KNOWLEGE OF THE MACE. I CONSIDER THOSE WITH WOOD, STONE OR BONE TO BE CLUBS PERHAPS THEY BECOME A MACE WITH THE INVENTION OF A METAL HEAD FOR STRIKING?. THAT IS MY WAY OF SEPARATING THE TWO I MAY BE RIGHT OR WRONG

THE CLUB OR MACE OFTEN BECOMES A SYMBOL OF ATHORITY OR A STANDARD FOR THE TRIBE RATHER THAN A WEAPON SINCE TRIBAL TIMES UNTIL THE PRESENT. YOU SHOW THREE VERY NICE EXAMPLES OF THE FLANGED MACE AS WELL AS SOME HORSETAIL STANDARDS. I AM NOT SURE THE STANDARDS EVOLVED FROM WAR CLUBS AS THE MACE DID. I SUSPECT THE LONGER ONES EVOLVED FROM SPEARS OR LANCES WHICH THEY MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLE. THATS JUST MY TWO CENTS WORTH AS I HAVE VERY LITTLE KNOWLEGE IN THE FEILD. PERHAPS YOU CAN ENLIGHTEN ME

AFTER ALL THAT IS WHAT THE FORUM IS ALL ABOUT.
UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE NO MACES BUT WILL SHARE A FEW PICTURES.
5. SEPTER, HAPSBURGS, AUSTRIA WITH NARWHAL HANDLE.
4. GERMAN IRON MACE
3. 5.1 CM GERMAN BRONZE MACE
2. 3X7CM. EUROPEAN BRONZE MACE
1. TWO VICUS BRONZE MACES
6. 4 INCH DIAMETER VICUS BRONZE MACE

THE VICUS MACES ARE FROM PRE COLUMBIAN TIMES IN SOUTH AMERICA. MACES WERE EVIDENTLY WIDELY USED THERE THOUGH MOST ARE STONE.

Tim Simmons · 24th August 2010, 07:46 PM

My best loved subject. Three of my most favourite, Southern Africa.

kronckew · 24th August 2010, 08:03 PM

the trench mace of ww1:

rough iron casting with tapered oval socket to fit issue pick mattock handle.

six flanged mace

'nother knobkerrie, the zulu 'iwisa' wooden mace

laEspadaAncha · 24th August 2010, 09:10 PM

Please pardon the poor pictures, but here's my own example, an Indian (16th-17th C.?) flanged mace measuring +/- 31.5 inches / 80 cm in length. There are still traces of gold koftgari on a couple of the 22 flanges, and several of them are bent, presumably from use. Note the one that appears to have split (delaminated?) in the 3rd photo below... the diameter of the shaft is thin (relative to the length), but the rings provide for a good purchase. A cavalry mace, maybe?

lionzden · 24th August 2010, 11:23 PM

laEspadaAncha thats a sweet Mace you've got there!

Congratulations!

.. and keep me in mind if you ever consider selling :-)

Antique Arsenal · 25th August 2010, 02:27 AM

Hi guys,
Thanks for joining this discussion. Your input and examples are greatly appreciated. I agree with Lionzden the Indian flanged mace is amazing. So, congratulations to laEspadaAncha.
As was mentioned Vandoo many Horsetail standards were actually carried on a long stuff, others had an actual a socket so they can be put on a spear or pike. Finally where are examples which more resemble a mace? One of those examples I will show below.

Regarding the definitions of maces and clubs I have referred to a Big Dictionary of Weapons by B.G. Trubnikov. So, this is a rough translation:

Fighting Bat – It is a simplest type of a club. Consists of the handle and working part looking like knob or a nub. Both parts are solid.

Club – Simple cold weapon which look like a Fighting Bat but strengthened spikes or metal plates.

Mace – Simple percussion cold weapon. This weapon has heads of different shapes but most often it is circular or elliptical shape. Maces with stone heads appeared during the Neolithic period.

I hope this will help you to gain a better perspective on what is what.

OK. Now finally I can show you the items I have and I hope you guys can help me with them.

1st Item From My Personal Collection

This item I bought about 3-4 years ago from an old guy in upstate New York. I did do some research and consulted about it with one of the local antique shop sellers. What I found out is that this item is a Buncuk of 18th -19th Century. It belonged to an officer or chieftain who commanded either a 10, 100 or a 1000 people. I have been told that the origin of that item is Persian and that each face on the head of it represents something but nobody told me what. I hope you guys would shad some light on this issue.
The guy who I bought it from insisted that the handle is made out of human bone but I never believed him. It just seems to be highly unlikely. The handle is wrapped in fabric like strips with horse hear sticking out all around its perimeter. The head is hollow and made of metal likely to be brass or bronze. Please see the pictures below for more.

Antique Arsenal · 25th August 2010, 02:31 AM

2nd Item From My Personal Collection

The second item I just recently bought and I think it is a trenching club of WWI period. At first I thought that it has German origin because of its shape but now I am not sure. On the leather strip fixed to the handle there is a name “EL CID” which is a Spanish national hero who lived in 11th century. That could mean that there was a military formation that had this name or it is a name of the person who owned it. This confused me even more because neither Spain nor Portuguese participated in WWI. As far as I know they remained neutral. I hope you can help me out with this one.

Thanks,
Aleks

laEspadaAncha · 25th August 2010, 03:21 AM

Thank you both Aleks & Lionzden for the compliments on the mace - Lionzden, since you asked, should I decide to sell the mace, I will give you first dibs.

Aleks - I'm not familiar with the term "Buncuk," and I'll be looking forward to hearing what some of the Islamic arms & armor specialists on the forum have to say... interesting-looking piece. And while I don't consider myself to be a part of the welcome wagon, welcome nonetheless...

24th August 2010, 02:50 AM	#1
Antique Arsenal Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 35	Maces, Clubs & Others Hi, My name is Aleks and I am a new member on this forum. I would like to open a discussion about history of maces, clubs and their migration into more symbolic representation of military power and authority (Scepter and Horsetail) in Middle East and Europe. Also, I wanted to show a couple of pieces from my collection hoping that you guys would fill in the gaps I have. I would appreciate any help and advise you can provide. Even thought maces and clubs have been known since ancient times during the Middle Ages they truly became very popular. Maces and clubs were found to be very effective weapons against soldiers and knights wearing heavy armour such as chain mail and full body plate armour. Many sources suggest that the mace was developing in Russia and Middle East at the same time. And eventually, in 12th century, it spread to Europe. By 14th century it became widely used by cavalry. Maces had a great variety of different shapes and all of them were used throughout the Middle Ages. In 14 century almost all maces in Europe had cylindrical head. This kind of mace provided an excellent impact area and was easily fixed to the handle. I was so popular that it is hard to imagine a horseman of that period without a mace. Right up until 15th century infantry in Europe used very primitive clubs reinforced with a metal spikes, which were still considered very inexpensive and effective weapon. In time maces became even more popular and up until 17th century noble knights widely used Shestopyor or Pernach (look on the right). They considered a mace to be more honorable weapon than any other percussion weapon, especially since it was already used by many warlords and high ranking officers as a symbol of military authority. For the most part in Middle East maces were traditional weapons of Tatars and they were used way before 13th century. As was mentioned previously it was perfect for penetrating heavily armed cavalry. In stories about legendary King Louis IX of France or simply Saint Louis maces were mentioned very often to be preferred weapon of the Turkish cavalry. In time maces gained more of symbolical value then an actual practical weapon. For example, even though scepter look like a mace, it has been known as an ornamental symbol carried by a ruling monarch. In a maneer of of speaking it is considered to be one of the royal relics. Like scepter so called Horsetail or Buncuk had a purely symbolical value and represented military power and authority of commanding officers, chieftains and even Sultans. As far as I know word “Buncuk” evolved from Turkish language but initially it was brought to Middle East by Tatar-Mongolian invaders in 13th century. Later on Ottoman (Turkish) empire spread its use to Eastern Europe, countries like Poland. Suddenly in 20 century this lethal weapon reappeared in trench warfare of WWI. All sides found maces and clubs to be extremely effective and most importantly quite weapon. Maces and Clubs were incorporated in trench raiding strategy. For the most part they were produced by local blacksmiths in closest settlements and some were actually manufactured in Germany and Great Brittan. Attached Images

24th August 2010, 06:29 PM	#2
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	WELCOME TO THE FORUM I COLLECT CLUBS SO IT IS IN THE SAME CATAGORY AND THE GRANDFATHER OF THE MACE. I HAVE LITTLE KNOWLEGE OF THE MACE. I CONSIDER THOSE WITH WOOD, STONE OR BONE TO BE CLUBS PERHAPS THEY BECOME A MACE WITH THE INVENTION OF A METAL HEAD FOR STRIKING?. THAT IS MY WAY OF SEPARATING THE TWO I MAY BE RIGHT OR WRONG THE CLUB OR MACE OFTEN BECOMES A SYMBOL OF ATHORITY OR A STANDARD FOR THE TRIBE RATHER THAN A WEAPON SINCE TRIBAL TIMES UNTIL THE PRESENT. YOU SHOW THREE VERY NICE EXAMPLES OF THE FLANGED MACE AS WELL AS SOME HORSETAIL STANDARDS. I AM NOT SURE THE STANDARDS EVOLVED FROM WAR CLUBS AS THE MACE DID. I SUSPECT THE LONGER ONES EVOLVED FROM SPEARS OR LANCES WHICH THEY MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLE. THATS JUST MY TWO CENTS WORTH AS I HAVE VERY LITTLE KNOWLEGE IN THE FEILD. PERHAPS YOU CAN ENLIGHTEN ME AFTER ALL THAT IS WHAT THE FORUM IS ALL ABOUT. UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE NO MACES BUT WILL SHARE A FEW PICTURES. 5. SEPTER, HAPSBURGS, AUSTRIA WITH NARWHAL HANDLE. 4. GERMAN IRON MACE 3. 5.1 CM GERMAN BRONZE MACE 2. 3X7CM. EUROPEAN BRONZE MACE 1. TWO VICUS BRONZE MACES 6. 4 INCH DIAMETER VICUS BRONZE MACE THE VICUS MACES ARE FROM PRE COLUMBIAN TIMES IN SOUTH AMERICA. MACES WERE EVIDENTLY WIDELY USED THERE THOUGH MOST ARE STONE. Attached Images

24th August 2010, 07:46 PM	#3
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,739	My best loved subject. Three of my most favourite, Southern Africa. Attached Images

25th August 2010, 02:27 AM	#7
Antique Arsenal Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 35	More Maces, Clubs & Other Hi guys, Thanks for joining this discussion. Your input and examples are greatly appreciated. I agree with Lionzden the Indian flanged mace is amazing. So, congratulations to laEspadaAncha. As was mentioned Vandoo many Horsetail standards were actually carried on a long stuff, others had an actual a socket so they can be put on a spear or pike. Finally where are examples which more resemble a mace? One of those examples I will show below. Regarding the definitions of maces and clubs I have referred to a Big Dictionary of Weapons by B.G. Trubnikov. So, this is a rough translation: Fighting Bat – It is a simplest type of a club. Consists of the handle and working part looking like knob or a nub. Both parts are solid. Club – Simple cold weapon which look like a Fighting Bat but strengthened spikes or metal plates. Mace – Simple percussion cold weapon. This weapon has heads of different shapes but most often it is circular or elliptical shape. Maces with stone heads appeared during the Neolithic period. I hope this will help you to gain a better perspective on what is what. OK. Now finally I can show you the items I have and I hope you guys can help me with them. 1st Item From My Personal Collection This item I bought about 3-4 years ago from an old guy in upstate New York. I did do some research and consulted about it with one of the local antique shop sellers. What I found out is that this item is a Buncuk of 18th -19th Century. It belonged to an officer or chieftain who commanded either a 10, 100 or a 1000 people. I have been told that the origin of that item is Persian and that each face on the head of it represents something but nobody told me what. I hope you guys would shad some light on this issue. The guy who I bought it from insisted that the handle is made out of human bone but I never believed him. It just seems to be highly unlikely. The handle is wrapped in fabric like strips with horse hear sticking out all around its perimeter. The head is hollow and made of metal likely to be brass or bronze. Please see the pictures below for more. Attached Images

25th August 2010, 02:31 AM	#8
Antique Arsenal Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 35	2nd Item 2nd Item From My Personal Collection The second item I just recently bought and I think it is a trenching club of WWI period. At first I thought that it has German origin because of its shape but now I am not sure. On the leather strip fixed to the handle there is a name “EL CID” which is a Spanish national hero who lived in 11th century. That could mean that there was a military formation that had this name or it is a name of the person who owned it. This confused me even more because neither Spain nor Portuguese participated in WWI. As far as I know they remained neutral. I hope you can help me out with this one. Thanks, Aleks Attached Images

24th August 2010, 08:03 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,150	the trench mace of ww1: rough iron casting with tapered oval socket to fit issue pick mattock handle. six flanged mace 'nother knobkerrie, the zulu 'iwisa' wooden mace

24th August 2010, 09:10 PM	#5
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Please pardon the poor pictures, but here's my own example, an Indian (16th-17th C.?) flanged mace measuring +/- 31.5 inches / 80 cm in length. There are still traces of gold koftgari on a couple of the 22 flanges, and several of them are bent, presumably from use. Note the one that appears to have split (delaminated?) in the 3rd photo below... the diameter of the shaft is thin (relative to the length), but the rings provide for a good purchase. A cavalry mace, maybe?

24th August 2010, 11:23 PM	#6
lionzden Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 51	laEspadaAncha thats a sweet Mace you've got there! Congratulations! .. and keep me in mind if you ever consider selling :-)

25th August 2010, 03:21 AM	#9
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Thank you both Aleks & Lionzden for the compliments on the mace - Lionzden, since you asked, should I decide to sell the mace, I will give you first dibs. Aleks - I'm not familiar with the term "Buncuk," and I'll be looking forward to hearing what some of the Islamic arms & armor specialists on the forum have to say... interesting-looking piece. And while I don't consider myself to be a part of the welcome wagon, welcome nonetheless...