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Hunting Cleaver (Waidpraxe) of Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

A work made of steel, bronze, gilding, horn, wood, leather, and silk.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of steel, bronze, gilding, horn, wood, leather, and silk.

Date:

1755/58

Artist:

German

About this artwork

This 18th-century Waidpraxe or chopper belonged to Ernst August II, Duke of Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach. The base of the sheath depicts a hunter who holds a chopper in one hand while presenting a severed boar head to the goddess of the hunt, Diana, with the other.

Etiquette strictly regulated who was allowed to dress the game and present the head or cut the heart. Offenders (men or women) who violated the rules were subjected to the embarrassment of “blading,” whereby the offender was made to bend over the deer carcass and receive three blows on the rear from the flat of the broad-bladed chopper.

Status

On View, Gallery 239

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Title

Hunting Cleaver (Waidpraxe) of Ernst August II Konstantin, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Place

Germany (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1755–1758

Medium

Steel, bronze, gilding, horn, wood, leather, and silk

Dimensions

Cleaver: Overall L. 36.2 cm (14 1/4 in.) Blade L. 25 cm (9 7/8 in.) Weight: 2 lb. Cleaver in scabbard weight: 2 lb. 2 oz.

Credit Line

George F. Harding Collection

Reference Number

1982.2126a-b

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/106222/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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