This is an outstanding rare and important triple batwing pipe tomahawk war club from the American Indians dating to the 19th Century. The piece is published in “Rare American Indian Weapons: Tomahawks, War Clubs and Knives”, from a private Wisconsin collection and very similar to the John Baldwin published triple batwing tomahawk. The tomahawk exhibits a large pipe tomahawk head which is blacksmith hand-forged and has three batwing cutouts down the center, as well as four pierced circles which are inlaid with copper. Atop the tomahawk is a tall pipe bowl with three prominent ridges having a tapered neck with chevron molding below on the diamond shaped eyelet hole. The eye also shows prominent stair stepped ridges and a small rear facing cut otherwise known as a spur. The head is affixed to a hardwood haft handle which is decorated with early solid brass square shank trade tacks in a banded or cluster at the head, two at the center and behind the gripping area. The entire haft is covered in hot file rasp brandings and has a dark patina with shiny finish. The end shows a carved wood smoking tip and the front shows a wood cleanout plug. This example of head is almost exactly identical if not the exact same as the piece documented and published in John Baldwin’s “Indian War Clubs of the American Frontier” 2001 on page 81 figure 2 (close examination of the head shows the same cutouts). John Baldwin is one of the premier noted authors and collectors of early Native American weapons and beadwork published several noted books on the subject and many of which are still in the Baldwin Trust collection. Provenance: From a private collection outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; published in the “Rare American Indian Weapons: Tomahawks, War Clubs and Knives” by Mark Francis on page 45 figure 1 and on page 47 figure 4 noted as an 1870 Triple Batwing Pipe Tomahawk as well as on the cover of the book (a picture of the page and cover of the book are shown for reference). A picture of the cover and page of John Baldwin’s book are also shown for reference. For additional reference see another triple batwing example from the John Baldwin collection sold by our company NAAC in 2019 for $8,917.50 (w/ bp). Measures overall 25.5”L with the head being 10.75”L, 4.25”L across the bottom of the blade and 1.25”D at the eyelet hole.