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Description: | Socketed axe head, decoration, Ridge (cast), Type, Rectangular (Coles), Portree [variant Kalemouth] (S&B), This axe has been made into a snuff box sometime in the 19th century (probably by the finder), Inscription engraved on lid
"One of a selection of snuff mulls (18th -early 19th cent)."
Author: Inglis,Jim & Curtis,Neil Date: 1990 Purpose: Encyclopaedia of the North-East
"Snuff was a very popular way of using tobacco from the 17th century until Queen Victoria came to the throne (she disapproved of it). At first snuff mulls were made to hold the snuff, later snuff boxes came into use. Snuff mulls were conical or barrel-shaped with a lid on the top. This mull is made from a prehistoric bronze axe and carries on the fashion of using original and fancy designs and many materials including horn, bone, ivory, wood and stone. The socketed axe-head was picked up at Cruden, Aberdeenshire in 1823 and at that time thought to be a Danish battle-axe. However, socketed bronze axe-heads were produced in the later Bronze Age from about 1100-750 BC. There are several different styles. They were cast in a two-piece mould, and the shape is hollow, rather like a bag. They often have cast decoration and most have two longitudinal internal ridges perpendicular to the blade. The axe would have enclosed the end of a kneeshaft. This is a rectangular socketed bronze axe, of the Portree type, a Kalemouth variant. It has a smooth exterior and a loop. It was converted into a snuff mull by adding a brass lid which was inscribed ' A DANISH BATTLE AXE FOUND ON THE COAST OF CRUDEN 1823'. The lid covers the whole of the open top of the axe-head, it is hinged about a third of the way across, as it would have been difficult to fix a hinge to the cast bronze. The bag-like shape of the axe-head made it an ideal shape for a snuff mull and the originality of using a unique antique would have appealed to the owner, as individual styles were valued. It illustrates the way in which stray finds of antiquities were treated as curiosities in the early 19th century."
Author: Feilden,Rosemary Date: 1999 Purpose: SCRAN
Acquisition source: ( Russel family ) | License: | http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/Copyright_terms_conditions.shtml | Publisher: | ABDUA University of Aberdeen, Marischal Museum | Rights holder: | 47718 | Temporal: | 1200 BC-600 BC; LBA | Source: | University of Aberdeen | Identifier: | http://calms.abdn.ac.uk/Geology/dserve.e... | Go to resource |
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