A GERMAN ETCHED HALBERD FOR THE GUARD OF JOHANN GEORG, DUKE OF SAXONY (1585, ELECTOR 1611-1656) AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE BISHOPRIC OF MERSEBURG, DATED 1609 with tapering terminal spike of hollow-diamond section with a pair of lugs at the base, forward-leaning curved axe-blade, down-curved rear fluke formed with a pair of inward curled lugs, tapering sockets, and a pair of long straps, one stamped 'ML', probably the maker, etched with strapwork and leafy tendrils on a stippled ground over the lower portion of the spike and the centre of the head on each face, the axe with the arms of Saxony and the arms of the Bishopric of Merseburg on the respective faces, each within a strapwork cartouche with cross-hatched borders, above the date and beneath the abbreviated inscription 'S.V.M.C.' for the ducal device Scopus Vitae mihi Christus, the rear fluke with the abbreviated inscription 'H.G.H.Z.S' for Hans Georg Herzog zu Sachsen within a panel on a stippled ground, on a wooden haft with a green, purple, red and gold silk tassel 73.0 cm; 28 ¾ in head Provenance The former Saxon Electoral Armoury, Dresden Another example, dated 1611, is preserved in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin. See Müller and Kölling 1990, no. 25. The Berlin example is etched with a similar inscription with the additional letters 'G.V.B.C.', reflecting his promotion to Elector that year. The Diocese of Merseburg was secularized in 1562 and its various properties and lands passed into the ownership of the Dukes of Saxony.