23/07/2020
I had the honor and privilege of handling and writing the description for this historic and important TOMAHAWK for .
I am an Arms & Armor Specialist with Morphy Auctions.
It was sold at our recent May 27, 2020 Early Arms & Militaria Sale: Founders & Patriots.
It realized a WORLD RECORD PRICE for any tomahawk ever publicly offered.
This silver-mounted and silver-inlaid presentation pipe tomahawk was made around 1770 and is signed by the maker, Richard Butler. It was made at Fort Pitt and is inscribed to Lieutenant John McClellan.
McClellan travelled on the Expedition to Quebec with Benedict Arnold. He perished on this perilous journey, but his brother Daniel carried it on to the Battle of Quebec, where he was captured by the British and taken as a prisoner of war. A British officer took the tomahawk back to England as a war trophy and it remained there in Warwick Castle until it was sold in the United States in 1996. The tomahawk also still retains its period Shawnee quillwork on the haft.
This IMPORTANT contributed to American Independence.
