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My SECOND Artifact or Artifake Question

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  • My SECOND Artifact or Artifake Question

    This was in the same accumulation as the "Sioux War Axe" earlier posting.  This 3/4 grooved axe is 7.25" long, 1.75" wide and 3.5" tall.  It also had a walnut stand that might have been from the same company that made the large display case for the axe.  Again, this stone axe is suspect.  It is well made, obviously shows pecking and polished surfaces at the "bit".  It appears to have had use, but that is up for conjecture.
    What makes this axe interesting is the well printed in white ink dedication on one side.  I will repeat this dedication in the event you cannot follow it on the photographs.
    "Kaw Battle Axe presented to Judge John Caskey in 1889 by Chief Grintner of the Kaw Indian tribe.  This gift was made in appreciation for the settling of the Grintner estate by Caskey who was administrator.
    Grintner estate lands lay mainly within the present city limits of Kansas City, Kansas."
    The first part of the dedication that stands out is the Kaw Battle Axe.  This appears to be a typical prehistoric axe that is found in Kansas and Missouri and would pre-date the historical Kaw Indian Tibe members.  The material is something expected from the glacial moraines north of the Missouri River, Kansas and Kaw Rivers in Kansas.  There do not appear to be modern grinder marks of manufacturer, but that is just an observation.
    This statement could be historically accurate.  Maybe there is a mention of the presentation in the Kansas City, Kansas or local paper(s).
    Of course, to the layman... any axe becomes a Battle Axe to add to the appeal of presentation.  No dignitary would expect to be handed an axe for chopping down trees for firewood.  A Battle Axe has more prestige. 
    Again, I am at the mercy of those of knowledge concerning this piece.  It is not so perfect to be discounted immediately from appearances, but someone went through some trouble to add the dedication.  The printing is done by someone who had nicer than average penmanship skills!  There is a "shine" about the stone axe.  From experiences living in Missouri, the majority of axes had a weathered surface and only those of high silica content retained a nice gloss when found in a field.  It is not a local geological stone, but a glacial moraine type of not the finest igneous or metamorphic stones to be chosen.
    Any and all comments are appreciated.  Another example of no background information being available to accompany this artifact or artifake.

  • #2
    Apparently my attached photographs did no
    t make it to my prior post.




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    • #3
      Thanks for sharing this. From your post it is evident you have done some research or at least something about Native American artifacts. There is no way the provenance written on the axe can be remotely accurate as you have pointed out. Personally, I do not see the patina I would expect on an axe that would be in excess of 5000 years. I would say someone went to a great deal of trouble to replicate this.
      Like a drifter I was born to walk alone

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      • #4
        .
        I'm thinking that it's a pristine -and- genuine, hardstone axe that's been coated and polished (possibly on a wheel): afterwards buffing with a cotton cloth would maintain it's 'more presentable' low sheen.
        Another thought is that the judge's house cleaner (or someone) polished it with Pledge once a week - does it smell lemony?
        If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

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        • #5
          Hmmmm! Putting aside the artefact itself there’s something else not quite right here. No Mention of Chief Grintner on the Kaw Nation website or in records from the Kansas Historical Society. There’s a possibility it’s a mis-spelling of “Grinter” (see later) since such mis-spellings were common in those days, but there’s no record of a Chief of that name either.
          The principal Kaw chief from 1867-1873 was Allegawaho, followed by Washunga from 1873 until his death in 1908. Maybe there were other “lesser” chiefs but the Kaw had been harassed by white settlers and the Government and dispossessed of much of their lands. The Kaw population had declined to just 188 people by 1888 and many of those were not full-bloods.
          No mention of a “Judge John Caskey” or any “Grintner” in the Kansas Historical Society records (including newspaper accounts) but you need a verifiable Kansas driving license to dig deeper into census record and such.
          There was a “Moses Grinter” who was one of the earliest permanent white settlers in the Kansas City, Kansas area. He married a half-Lenapi (Delaware)/half-white girl called “Windagamen Marshall” in 1838. She later took the name “Annie” and they lived on Wyandot-Delaware Reservation land along the Kansas River which she had been granted by the government in 1831. Moses had been a ferry operator on the old Native trail by Kaw’s water but his marriage to Annie entitled him to buy a trading post on the reservation. They ran a post office, raised poulty and livestock, planted an apple orchard, had their own brick kiln and built a brick house in 1857 which is now Grinter Place State Historic Site. Maybe that’s what’s meant by the “Grintner Estate”, although Moses died in 1878 and Annie in 1905 so that doesn’t tie in which an estate being wound up in 1889.
          I’m guessing it’s all fantasy but with some vague borrowings from local history.
          I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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          • #6
            There a people recreating axes that sure look good and made to look old. http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-...onkenpage1.htm Does the first one look similar?
            Like a drifter I was born to walk alone

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            • #7
              rmartin wrote:

              There a people recreating axes that sure look good and made to look old. http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-...onkenpage1.htm
                Interesting - Thanks for the link!
              If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

              Comment


              • #8
                rmartin wrote:

                There a people recreating axes that sure look good and made to look old. http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-...onkenpage1.htm Does the first one look similar?
                  ********
                This has to be the best site to get almost instant feed back! 
                Looking at the Onkin Black Granite axes... I do not see ANY difference from what I photographed and in comparison it cannot be anything but one of his axes.  The axe in my possession has a near identical appearance, down to the shine or luster... as he must share the same housekeeper as the Judge, of course.  At least I am dealing with people with integrity and humor... a combination not usually found together.
                It would be nice if these "art axes" had a strong lazer to etch onto the surface the name and date of manufacture.  Why make such nice copies and not take the credit!
                I have a brother in Grove, Oklahoma who has been flint knapping at the age of 12 in 1964, residing in Missouri and Oklahoma.  We found our first Hopewell point crossing a plowed field along the Little Blue River near Independence, Missouri to hunt fossils at a small limestone quarry.  Taking the short cut changed his life completely by trying to replicate Hopewell tools, which he did and now percussion and pressure flakes stone art projectiles, animal figures, stars, effigies, paleo points, three points radiating out from one nodule, arrowhead(s) in a rock (nodule), etc.  I went on to get my geology degree in the 1970's and will be leaving Wednesday to hunt Nephrite Jade slicks near Lander, Wyoming.  Had the Hopewell Indians access to even the common grade Nephrite Jade that is presently being quarried by a friend of mine... you would find very few axes broken in the Midwest!  That is one of the few "stones" that look like you could percussion or pressure flake, but you will never be able to work Jade, other than grinding an Onken Axe out of it.
                I might add.  For the excess talent of my brother and his imagination... I was deprived of any artistic talent and forced to scour the geologic literature and maps hunting down materials that he could use to make his imagination made into stone...and last forever.
                If I can find anything else that looks suspicious in my travels... this will be my first stop.  Thank you again!

                Comment


                • #9
                  .
                  from SevenOut:
                  Looking at the Onkin Black Granite axes... I do not see ANY difference from what I photographed and in comparison it cannot be anything but one of his axes. 
                  It would be nice if these "art axes" had a strong lazer to etch onto the surface the name and date of manufacture.  Why make such nice copies and not take the credit!
                  __________________________________________________ ________________________________
                    Olden:
                  Perhaps Tom Onkin can identify some of his own work?
                  I like the idea of 'perfect copies' being laser etched, and if indeed the axe turns out to be one of his, this would be a perfect reason for doing so. Maybe sending him a link to this post would be a good idea?
                  If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I'd like to see pics of the bit edge. Nothing about the axe stands out as being modern to me from the pics.
                    Estate (will) records are kept forever, probably in the courthouse in Kansas. If there is anything to the story, it would be reflected in the legal record.

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                    • #11
                      CliffJ wrote:

                      I'd like to see pics of the bit edge. Nothing about the axe stands out as being modern to me from the pics.
                      Estate (will) records are kept forever, probably in the courthouse in Kansas. If there is anything to the story, it would be reflected in the legal record.
                        ********
                      Here are both sides of the bit.  Thanks for wanting to do a second opinion!
                         Attached files 
                       

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                      • #12
                        Maybe an authentic axe with a fake inscription. I can see the pecking on the axe in some spots still. Seems to mea modern one would have been made in an easier fashion, not the traditional way.

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                        • #13
                          I agree, I would not discount the fact that it indeed may be mislabeled but authentic !

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                          • #14
                            .
                            Here ya go ~ still looks genuine -and- unused to to these eyes. I'm not sure if it's the scanners
                            focus, but the bit looks 'hollow pecked': some decent work.


                            If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Butch Wilson wrote:

                              I agree, I would not discount the fact that it indeed may be mislabeled but authentic !
                                Perhaps the painted attribution was done a considerable time after the event. It might be a family story with its roots in the truth but has been badly remembered or "embellished" a bit.
                              I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

                              Comment

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