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Cheyenne Double-Batwing Pipe Tomahawk c. 1880

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:8,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
Cheyenne Double-Batwing Pipe Tomahawk c. 1880
This is an excellent Cheyenne Native American Indian pipe tomahawk with rare “Double Batwing” cut outs in the blade and dates to circa 1880’s. The pipe tomahawk shows a heavy authentic hand-forged head with very scarce double “batwing” cutouts out of the center of the blade accented by the tall bowl with hand-filed rings, artful chevrons, detailed & hand-filed mouldings and a rear facing spur, truly an artist appeal. The forged head is married to a nice original solid wood haft handle which is adorned with a brass trade tack linear design accented by a Buffalo Indian tanned hide hand-cut fringe wrap at the smoking tip along with a Buffalo hide typical shaped drop. The drop is secured with the Buffalo gripping wrap and shows eight old tarnished rolled tin jingle cones along with a fantastic geometric fully beaded pattern in chalk white, greasy yellow, cobalt and red in a typical Cheyenne bar motif design. At the bottom of the drop is long hand cut Buffalo Indian tanned hide fringe and overall the drop measures 18” when hanging. Sewn with a sinew lacing. The gripping area has a section of the finish worn off with a nice deep patina from age and use. There are less than 30 known authentic double batwing / double cutout pipe tomahawks in any museums or private collections. These tomahawks rarely come up for public sale making them a very scarce and unique American Indian collectible. Cowan’s Auctions offered a Southern Plains Style Pipe Tomahawk with Inlay and Double-Cutout in their 4/5/2013 sale attributed to circa 1870 and sold for an astounding $42,000. A similar tomahawk is photographed in Hartzler and Knowles Indian Tomahawks and Frontiersmen Belt Axes (1991 figure 60). Other authentic examples have been offered by Manitou Galleries, Bonhams, Auction in Santa Fe, along with an example being showing in a publication by Gary Hendershott. Provenance: From the ex-collection of Tom Hardy from Sante Fe and Ohio. The tomahawk measures overall 24 inches in length with a 12 inch long head that has a 4 ¼ inch long blade.