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Small handaxe: accurate for 18th century?

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Even though I do more for error interpretation, the family and I have been going deeper in the 18th century reenactment.

I’ve used this little small handaxe that I don’t remember where I got. Not meant to be a reproduction but some thing I imagine the average mountain man would have because it’s so small, portable, lightweight and versatile.

My question for those of you that know your historical accuracy for 18 century: with this profile and size acts be some thing a frontier family man would have? It doesn’t look like the trade access examples that I’ve seen. But I haven’t seen everything

1593111861806.jpeg
 
Here's the hand axe of Isaac Shelby, active in late 18th century. Its head is known as an "American pattern". Yours is very similar, but is minus the ears and the eye is apparently quite a bit longer, less round. I think it would pass, but the handle is too modern, needs to be straight, IMHO.

Shelby_Axe2a.jpg


Spence
 
Even though I do more for error interpretation, the family and I have been going deeper in the 18th century reenactment.

I’ve used this little small handaxe that I don’t remember where I got. Not meant to be a reproduction but some thing I imagine the average mountain man would have because it’s so small, portable, lightweight and versatile.

My question for those of you that know your historical accuracy for 18 century: with this profile and size acts be some thing a frontier family man would have? It doesn’t look like the trade access examples that I’ve seen. But I haven’t seen everything

View attachment 35067

As others have mentioned, the head looks ok (but should have a more rounded eye) but should not draw attention. The handle is clearly modern & should be replaced. In the 18th c, handles were typically lathe turned (straight & round) or spit out & carved with a spokeshave or similar tool. In that case, the handle is still straight but can be oval in cross-section. The curved shaped handles such as your axe currently carries, did not come into vogue until the Blanchard lathe (invented to speed gunstock production - it can turn ovals and follow a curved pattern) came into widespread use in the 19th c. Plenty of handy little axes are shown in period illustrations.
 
Thanks guys. It's just as I suspected. The head looked period (because its such a basic shape) but the handle seemed too modern.
 
Actually, I say no. The head is VERY obviously modern. The "earless" axe heads seem to have developed over the course of the 19th century.

If you look at axe heads found in known, dateable 18th century archaeological sites, what you find for small "belt size" axe heads are the common wrap-eye, poll-less "tomahawk" heads. Bunches and bunches of them. Sometimes, smaller English style hatchet heads are found, for which there is no good modern made equivalent, outside of having one made by an axe-smith, or finding a usable antique (these patterns were still made in England for a long time, perhaps even until recently, but I haven't seen any currently made ones). Larger axe heads are often larger versions of the common English styles, and also what are today called "American pattern" axes (I'm not convinced they are at all). The earlier heads have longer bits, shorter polls. The later heads have shorter bits, and longer polls. A "Jersey" or "Baltimore/Kentucky" axe is fairly close to these in shape (I don't know about the high centerline form, though...), but again, these are large felling axes, three, or four, or more pounds.

What I don't see are the nifty, small "bag axes". At all. As much as I love them, I am of the strong opinion that these are NOT 18th century at all, but mostly mid to late 19th century. Although almost no one will fuss at you for carrying one of these tiny axes to an 18th century event, I honestly think they are not dateable to that time period at all.

There are a lot of old axes/tomahawks out there... and all of them are "Revolutionary War period", or "genuine Native American tomahawks".... according to the people that own them or want to sell them. To me, if there is not some good archaeological evidence, or some really solid solid history (not just "family history"), it's just an old axe.
 
I can't find where I got this photo, but this is a picture of artifacts found at Fort Ticonderoga. Among all the shovel heads, hoes, picks, and billhooks, there are quite a large number of axe heads. Notice their forms. These are very typical from what I have seen. All VERY different from the broad, earless Dayton/Connecticut/Michigan/Yankee axe heads we are familiar with today.

Ticonderoga artifacts.jpg
 
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