The War Dagger of the Native American Chief

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

This is an object both beautiful and impressive, measuring over 50 cm overall. This is a great dagger manufactured in northern British Columbia between 1790 and 1830. Its long blade of iron or steel is double-edged. It ends with a handle with a wrapped rope and with a pommel. The pommel is in itself a work of art: it shows a strong stylized eagle head, the beak upwards.

This weapon had a war name. It was called "Eagle overlooking the Skeena River" and is known to have belonged to a wealthy native chief in the middle of the nineteenth century.

So usual that every man of these clans owned one, the knife was a sign of prestige and power when it reached the beauty of this one.

I had not seen in auctions similar items from this region. So I do not comment directly the estimate of K $ 400 announced by Bonhams and Butterfields. I note however that the estimated range is very open (50%), which often attests to the rarity of an object. The sale takes place on June 1 in San Francisco.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

This lot was sold for exactly its low estimate, 400 K$ before fees (K $ 480 inclusive). Such result shall serve as a reference for this type of object.