This is an original 19th-century Sioux stone pounder club of a massive size from the ex-C.M. Russell Museum Great Falls, Montana and John Kleinschmidt collections. The club exhibits a very large stone head with presumable grove under the bent wood and parfleche rawhide wrapped top showing a carved rounded side and flattened hammer like side. The head is secured to a thick carved wooden haft handle which is wrapped in the same continuous parfleche rawhide as the top wrapping and sewn with sinew and then carrying on at the gripping area with a nice patina from use. These stone maul or hammer clubs of a similar shape but more medium to smaller size were used as stone hammers to pound dried chokecherries and jerky / meat into a powder which had suet added making pemmican as well as meat tenderizing. The larger maul hammers were used to pound tipi stakes, splitting wood with wedges and breaking buffalo bones (and other animals) to extract marrow or to smash skulls for removing the brains for tanning hides, i.e. brain tanning. This is truly a rare example with wonderful collection history. Provenance: From the John Kleinschmidt collection which was on loan to the C.M. Russell Museum from 1987 to 1993 and included in the "The Cowboy West: 100 Years of Photography 1992-1993 exhibit. Catherine A. O'Dell. An attached museum tag reads, "1396-87 O'Dell". Measures overall 23.5-inches long with the head being 6.5-inches by 6-inches by 5.5-inches. It was on display at the C.M. Russell museum. A copy of the C.M. Russell Museum paperwork can be available at request.