17th century Italian halberd

Italian halberd of the 17th century.
Bronze and wood.
Measurements: 108 x 28 cm.

Halberds were bladed weapons used in Europe from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century. Like the specimen we are now bidding on, they had wooden horns topped at the top by a weapon head with a transversal blade in the shape of an axe blade. This, on occasions, adopted the synthesized form of a bird. The halberds were used as insignia of the infantry sergeants and in the processions of the executed.