This is an excellent original circa 1874 Eastern Woodlands pipe tomahawk that came from a private of material from the Erie County, Pennsylvania Historical Society. The tomahawk is attributed to the Shawnee Native American Indians in the Erie County area. The blade is hand-forged and features hand-stippled engravings on both sides that read, “Made by LC Flint, a Shawnee Indian” Below this engraving is an additional engraving on the blade in Pennsylvania Dutch dialect stating, “A blacksmit apprentiss under Ira Skiff Fort LeBoeuf Pennsylvania 1874 A.D.” The spelling is accurate for Pennsylvania Dutch along with the addition of “A.D.” in reference to the death of Christ. There was a blacksmith named Ira Skiff who has been documented as working at Fort LeBoeuf (Le Boeuf) and he did have several Shawnee Indians working under him. The war club also shows a solid ash wood haft and the original clean out plug still intact. The haft shows hand-burnt designs etched into both sides as shown. There is a conical, tin smoking tip on the bottom end of the pipe. Almost identical cone shaped smoking tips made of tin have been documented on several early Eastern Woodlands spike tomahawks in the Peterson Tomahawk Book. Provenance: This tomahawk was featured in the 2009 book, “The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art” on page 79 figure 132, 133 and 134 as shown and is from the ex-collection of the Erie County Historical Society. Early forged pipe tomahawks with engraved blades are very scarce with this example showing fine original condition. The axe head measures 7.25”L by 2.5” across the bottom of the blade with a total length of 15.25”. For a complete representation of condition and for additional images please call 800-686-4216. It is the buyer’s responsibility to view each image and preview the item to determine condition.