A Rare 19th Century English Antique Hand Forged Steel Friendly Society Staff Head of Halberd and Crozier Form

This is a remarkable piece of village blacksmithing. The emblems of an English friendly society are forged together into one composite staff head, more ambitious and more personal than any stock pattern.

The head is cut from a single steel plate in the form of a halberd. A crescent axe blade sits on one side and a flared, concave-edged blade on the other. Four circular piercings separate them, leaving a cross at the centre. Above the cross, the plate narrows into a Janus head: two bearded profiles set back to back, each with a copper pin for an eye. From the crown of the heads the iron is drawn out into a slender rod and bent into a crook, finishing in a flattened button scroll. This is the crozier of pastoral care, set where a fighting halberd would carry its spike. Below the blades, a squared plate pierced with two roundels leads down to an acorn and a spear-point collar. The iron then tapers into a long ferrule, pinned to the remains of its wooden staff.

The friendly societies were the mutual insurance clubs of the English village. Members paid in against sickness, injury and the cost of a decent burial. Once a year the club walked the parish in procession, usually to church and then to its inn, with each member carrying a staff topped by the club’s emblem. Most of these heads were cast or cut in brass, chiefly in Somerset and the neighbouring counties, and their designs drew on a familiar vocabulary.

The halberd, the shepherd’s crook and the acorn all appear among recorded West Country poleheads. The acorn would suit a club whose feast fell on Oak Apple Day, 29th May. This head combines all three in steel rather than brass, and adds the double-faced copper-eyed head, for which we know no published parallel. It is very likely a blacksmith’s own composition for his parish club.

The Janus head is a particularly happy touch. Its two faces look both ways along the procession, and perhaps backwards and forwards in time as well, keeping watch over a society whose whole purpose was foresight. The crook may refer to a Shepherds’ society, or simply to the idea of care for the flock. We prefer to leave the question open.

The surface has been cleaned back and waxed to an attractive silvered and russet patina, with old pitting throughout. The staff survives only as a broken stub, so the piece is now best displayed hung or mounted. It is a characterful survival of English rural self-help: part regalia, part folk sculpture, and an outstanding object for a cabinet of curiosities or a period interior.

Provenance: England. 19th-century. Most probably originating from Somerset or the West Country.

Material: Steel, with copper pin eyes; remains of the original wooden staff, pinned within the ferrule.

Condition: In good, sound condition for its age and use. The steel shows fine pitting, scattered old oxidation, and areas of silvered wear on the high points. The crook, the blades and both copper eyes are present and intact. There is minor wear to the edges. The wooden staff is broken and survives as a truncated stub with age-related wear and marking. No restoration to the metalwork is evident. Please refer to the photographs.

Dimensions: Overall height 31½ in (80 cm).