For The Love Of Contemporary

Showing posts with label Pipe Ax. Show all posts

Pipe Ax by Brian Anderson

inlaid pipe axe with a curley ash handle

Copy and photos supplied by Brian Anderson.

Pipe Tomahawk by Hugh Holborn

Iron with a steel bit. Measures 20", hung on maple, river cane mouthpiece.

Photos supplied by Hugh Holborn.

Antique Pipe Tomahawk

Pipe tomahawk

OAL 16 1/4 inch

head 6 5/16

bit 2 1/16

The pipe tomahawk came out of England at the end of World War II where it was sharpened. The haft shows much use and patination with traces of red paint near the head.

Copy and photos supplied by friend of Contemporary Makers Blog.

Pipe Ax by Stash David

Photographed at the 2013 Lake Cumberland Show by Jan Riser.

Tecumseh/Proctor Pipe Ax by Glen McClain

Glen McClain Display at the 2012 CLA Show

below is one of these axes

Ceremonial pipe tomahawk (ca. 1790-1810) a gift from Colonel Henry Proctor. The eye is teardrop, the pipe bowl is tall and almost nozzle shaped. The overall height of the head has increased with both a taller bowl and a longer blade. The obverse side of the blade is engraved in script letters:

To Chief Tecumseh

From Col. Proctor

MDCCCXII

Henry Proctor was commander of the British forces with whom Tecumseh’s Shawnees served during the War of 1812.

Wood, iron, lead

26” x 8.9”

This ax was probably presented to the Shawnee war chief at Fort Malden, in amherstburg, Ont. Late in the autumn of 1812. During that summer, when the War of 1812 officially started, Tecumseh led Native warriors against the Americans on the Detroit frontier. In mid-august he joined with British forces, led by General Isaac Brock, to capture Detroit from General William Hull and an American army.

-R. David Edmunds (Cherokee), Anne and Chester Watson Chair in History, University of Texas Dallas School of Arts and Humanities

This essay is excerpted from Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indians, edited by Cecil R. Ganteaume and published by Harper Collins in Association with the National Museum of the American Indian.

American Indian, Spring 2012

(the above expert is from this magazine with Glen's display)

Photographed at the 2012 CLA Show by Jan Riser.

2013 CLA Live Auction: “Squire Boone Pipe Ax and the War of 1812” by Brian Anderson

Brian Anderson of Bristol Vermont is a well-known gunsmith, artist, teacher, and blacksmith, and he offered to put his skills to work for our 2013 “CLA Fundraising Auction” by making us a copy of the “Squire Boone Pipe Axe”.

When you think of the Boones, you don’t often think of their involvement in the War of 1812, and the little known story of Squire’s personal pipe ax is a good illustration of that point. Unlike their war service, it is generally known that the Boone brothers, Daniel and Squire were both handy at the forge, so handy that they even made guns. Several artifacts still exist that are attributed to their hands, including a very special pipe axe that is currently curated by the Indiana Museum.

The axe was originally forged by Squire, and later traded to his brother-in-law, Mr. Benjamin Van Cleve, for a cow. Then, during the War of 1812 Benjamin’s soldier son William carried and used the family heirloom all the way to the Battle of New Orleans.

Brian Anderson copied Squire’s work by forge welding several pieces of wrought iron buggy tire into a bar or billet that was hammered out into the tomahawk head, accurately copying the Boone piece right down to the inserted steel bit. Next, following tradition, a small section of rifle barrel was fitted and brazed onto the head to serve as the pipe bowl. After that everything was patiently hand worked and filed into its final shape. Finally, just like Squire did on the original, Brian used an ash sapling for the axe’s haft.

From whimsical folk art pieces like his wonderful forged iron “Salamander on Wheels” to exacting copies like the “Squire Boone Pipe Axe” made for the 2013 CLA Fundraising Auction, Brian Anderson is a master of his craft, and we are proud to have this special piece in our auction.