pipe tomahawk

Beautiful Hawk,

First let me state right up front I'm no expert. With that said, it looks like it could be original to roughly the late 1800s, but then it could easily be a 1940s tourist trinket. I see a few things that could be red flags, like concentric rings in the bottom of the bowl which say drilled not forged, and the lines in the void of the blade are dead straight like it was punched out, but then again I'm no expert. I think I would take it to a real expert to have it appraised at a local college Archaeology Dept, or someone who specializes in American Indian Culture and Antiquities.
 
If one of the tack's are loose and you can remove easily look at the shank,if it has a square shank and i bet it does you've got yourself an antique.Judging by the patina on the head and the aging of the handle it looks to be an original.If the horse hair drops where still on it the hair could tell you exactly how old it is.
 
Setting aside the morality of selling a family heirloom, this seems like an auction doomed to fail. ain't nobody dropping a grand on an item with no provenance, and no description other than to say it's "very nice."
I think you're looking for a discerning collector/connoisseur with that item at that price, and your description just isn't going to cut it. time to do some research. Find out what period it might be from, what tribe (or at least region), what markings are on it and what they signify etc...
 
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