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Mid-19th Century Cherokee Pipe Tomahawk

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:2,000.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
Mid-19th Century Cherokee Pipe Tomahawk
The lot features an original mid-19th Century pipe tomahawk attributed to the Western Cherokee of Oklahoma. The piece was collected at Tahlequah, Oklahoma and features a blacksmith hand-forged metal head with whiskey barrel shaped or vase shaped pipe bowl on a forged pedestal, forged chevrons or “V”’s and forged moldings with minor oxidation and corrosion. The head is paired with a hard wood haft handle that is adorned with circular brass tacking designs and has a brass gasket holding the head onto the haft, brass end cap and brass smoking tip. This is likely a presentation pipe tomahawk head made by one of the early fur trading companies due to its fancier manufacture. The Cherokee were moved from Tennessee and North Carolina to a reservation at Tahlequah, Oklahoma in the 19th Century and this piece was said to have been recovered at the reservation. The age of the haft seems early but could be a later addition. Overall has some nice mellow patina and the pipe still has draw. Pipe tomahawks attributed to the Cherokee Indians are quite uncommon with this being a superb example. Provenance: From the ex-collection of Dale Harrison Cincinnati, OH. The head measures 8 inches long by 2.75 inches wide across the bottom of the blade. Total length of the tomahawk is 21 inches.