Vintage Pawnee Indian Ball Head War Club Early 19th Century Warrior's Face Carv

  

Pawnee Indian Ball Head War Club - Warrior carved face effigy with forges steel spike protruding from the warrior's mouth. In use for more than two to three hundred years, ball head war clubs were associated with many different American Indian peoples of the Northeast and Great Lakes region but the Pawnee were know for painting half their face red and sometimes in entirety. Several of the clubs appear in portraits of distinguished Europeans, particularly during the eighteenth century. By the nineteenth century they were becoming obsolete as pipe tomahawks gained preference.

Distinguished by its narrow yet strong profile, the club displayed here would have been a formidable weapon in the hands of its warrior owner. When a club was successful, reports say, it was left beside the body of its victim. The ball of this club is carved into the face of a fearsome warrior.

Lots of nice old brass tacks. About 24" long and the spike is 2" long. My husband and I would travel the US going to auctions and estate sales. Now I want to spend time with my grandkids and enjoy retirement.