Native American spike tomahawk, fur trade pole axes and skinning knives

M ELEY · 30th December 2020, 04:16 AM

Hello Colin and thank you for responding to the thread. Yes, you are absolutely correct that there are many fakes out there, but 95% of them are the pipe tomahawks, which fetch thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars. Spike tomahawks are also faked on occasion, but outside of diehard collectors, many don't register these as 'true tomahawks'. The faked ones typically have false patina or modern rust. The fakers use old tool heads that they grind down to fit the right shapes. What remains is a minefield of misunderstanding, axes that AREN"T tomahawks but resemble them, foreign look-a-likes, etc. I find what helps me is understanding what isn't a tomahawk, look at those traits and compare them with examples I come across for comparison. Again, I'm no expert, but feel comfortable that most of my examples are solid. That being said, just because they are spike tomahawk weapons doesn't necessarily mean they were used by natives. That, as you pointed out, requires provenance. In any case, I won't deny this is (like boarding axes!) a slippery slope of collecting. Ten years ago, I had three other examples that I ruled out as look-alike and thus got rid of them-

30th December 2020, 04:16 AM	#8
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Hello Colin and thank you for responding to the thread. Yes, you are absolutely correct that there are many fakes out there, but 95% of them are the pipe tomahawks, which fetch thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars. Spike tomahawks are also faked on occasion, but outside of diehard collectors, many don't register these as 'true tomahawks'. The faked ones typically have false patina or modern rust. The fakers use old tool heads that they grind down to fit the right shapes. What remains is a minefield of misunderstanding, axes that AREN"T tomahawks but resemble them, foreign look-a-likes, etc. I find what helps me is understanding what isn't a tomahawk, look at those traits and compare them with examples I come across for comparison. Again, I'm no expert, but feel comfortable that most of my examples are solid. That being said, just because they are spike tomahawk weapons doesn't necessarily mean they were used by natives. That, as you pointed out, requires provenance. In any case, I won't deny this is (like boarding axes!) a slippery slope of collecting. Ten years ago, I had three other examples that I ruled out as look-alike and thus got rid of them- Last edited by M ELEY; 30th December 2020 at 07:41 PM.