Objects Database

Swiss ice Axe

Accession Number

1624.2021.1

Object Name

Swiss ice Axe

Created

24/08/2021

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

24/08/2021

Brief Description

Long shafted ice axe with serrated pick and pointed ferrule.Sliding wrist leash.

Materials

wood, metal

Dimensions

93.5(L) x 28(length of head) cms

Number Of Objects

1

Inscription Description

"G JOST THUN"

Colour

silver, brown

Maker

G Jost

Object Production Place

Thun, Switzerland

Provenance

They called it the Golden Age of Mountaineering ; 1860 to 1880 were the rough parameters, a time when most of the major alpine peaks were first climbed, many of them by British mountaineers though often with local mountain guides.
Both guide and client needed ice-axes so the local blacksmiths turned their skills of making agricultural tools to that of ice-axes.
The blacksmiths of the Stubai area of Austria amalgamated to become Stubai, the ice- axe makers, Grivel of Italy, Simond and Charlet of France were all to become household (mountaineering households anyway) names.
They did it a little differently in Switzerland, operating on a smaller, more local basis, creating a wealth of different brands from a variety of Swiss valleys, in this case Thun in the Canton of Bern close to the mountains of the Bernese Oberland.
G. Jost-Thun is stamped on the head and we are assuming that’s the maker and the town of origin though it is possible that it refers to the owner and his/her place of residence.
A fabulous axe whatever which we think dates from 1900/1910.

Acquisition Date

24/08/2021

Condition Check Date

24/08/2021

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

24/08/2021

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