A Lakota Sioux three-bladed effigy club


The head worked to represent a raptor, the fierce bird with brass tack eyes, its feathers incised and darkened, a central red-painted panel tacked and holding three hand-wrought metal blades, the shaft and rounded butt end adorned with further decorative tackwork.length 37 3/4in
|Compares FavorablyCowan's Auctions, American Indian and Western Art, April 8, 2016, lot 317Due to the unusual iconography and distinct parallels in manufacture and aesthetics, it would appear that this lot was likely by the same maker as Cowan's club. Research cited in their catalogue suggests that the bird effigy represents the mythical Thunderbird and that such clubs were popularized after the Civil War and into the 1880's. While the interpretation of the carver/artist's intent may be open to conjecture, the symbolic weight of the club's imagery is clear: the warrior wielding such a weapon warranted the respect and praise of his people as an affirmation of power, not unlike that of the lord of the skies.