2635 - An extremely rare Gothic Ahlspiess (awl pike) by Hans Maidburger of Piesting for the Viennese armory, circa 1497 to 1500

An extremely rare Gothic Ahlspiess (awl pike) by Hans Maidburger of Piesting for the Viennese armory, circa 1497 to 1500 Long, sturdy square-shaped tip with a square cross-section. Hans Maidburger’s mark, struck twice at the base. Round accompanying breaking disc riveted to the underside. Characteristic long ferrule, open on the sides. Mounted on a wooden shaft that has been restored to its original state. Length of the head: 118 cm; total length: 240 cm. From the collection of the Civil Armory in Vienna. Records document a second shipment of awl spears totaling 320 pieces from Piesting in Lower Austria between 1497 and 1500. Some of these pieces are attributed to Hans Maidburger based on his mark. The Armory’s current collection still contains approximately 170 awl pikes (Inv. Nos. 126.008–126.010, 126.050–126.057, 162.449–162.602). Other examples from this group are now held in numerous international collections. One of the pieces bearing the Armory mark stamped on the shaft and also the mark of Hans Maidburger, for example, is in the collection of the German Historical Museum in Berlin (Inv. No. W1 23.4). Cf. Müller, Heinrich, and Kölling, Hartmut, *European Bladed and Edged Weapons*, Berlin, no. 71, pp. 180 and 368. This piece therefore likely originates from the shipment made between 1497 and 1500 for the Vienna Armory; the armory mark would have been stamped on the original shaft. Provenance: From a private collection in Vienna. Condition: II