[NATIVE AMERICAN] Stone-Headed War Club w/ Hide-Wrapped Haft

A Stone-Headed War Club with Hide-Wrapped Haft. Plains type.

A striking stone-headed club, distinguished by its elongated proportions and the substantial, tapering form of its head. The smoothed stone displays a mottled surface of pinkish-brown, gray, and black, its opposing ends projecting beyond a broad hide binding secured around the center. The slender haft is covered in hide, with diagonal lines of wrapping articulating its length. Dark greenish coloration survives particularly around the head attachment and upper shaft. At the lower end, a pendant of pale and blue-green hair, interspersed with yellow strands and gathered beneath a small green beaded collar, introduces a delicate counterpoint to the mass of the stone.

The construction is consistent with a widely distributed Plains club form in which a shaped stone head was secured to a wooden haft with hide. Related examples in museum collections demonstrate considerable variation in the treatment of the shaft, ranging from comparatively restrained hide coverings to elaborate beadwork. Stone-headed clubs had a long history as weapons on the Plains, while versions of the form also continued in ceremonial use.