German “Spiked Rabbit” Torture Device, 17th C

Description

Known in German as a “Gespickter Hase”, meaning “spiked bunny”, these spiked flesh
rollers were used in conjunction with the rack or other devices to elicit confessions of guilt.
It was a controlled means of torture which often resulted in severe infections. Before
antibiotics septic infections often ended in a long agonizing death to the victim. This
museum-quality example came from a torture collection in England. Length 16 1/2″, width
4 1/2″. A few of the spikes have loosened and were re-fastened in a restoration. A very
terrible and painful torture device. Grip ferule ring is loose, probably due to wood
shrinkage over time.