Mortice axe or vine pruning tool???
Items for sale on eBay.com (the US site) in 2011 and 2012 and described as Mortice Axes have prompted me to do some further research. It would appear that a little known and very uncommon form of vine pruning tool, called by the locals a podadora (billhook) looks far more like a mortice axe than a billhook, and has thus been mis-named and frequently sold as such on ebay.com (for some very high sums).
One of the objects of this site is to correct errors in nomenclature or classification, and thus the following pdf file outlines my findings. There may be collectors or specialists from other countries that would disagree with my conclusions, but I hope that first hand research by one of Spains leading ethnologists and wine experts, Señor Luis Vicente Elias will convince them otherwise.
Some thoughts on unusual edge tools, with special reference to those previously used for vine pruning in the wine regions of central and southern Spain.
Mortice Axe or Billhook.pdf
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