Clubs

Description

Two types of warclub are depicted in this sketch. The upper club consists of a stone head with awooden handle, all encased in rawhide with the head left freely swinging-a formidable battle weapon. The notations refer to "leather and red cloth." See the watercolor version reproduced in Plate 349. The wooden club below was a gift to Maximilian from a Ponca man. The original was painted reddish-brown, as the notation on the shaft indicates. The note above the handle says "somewhat too long." In the woodcut version which appears in Travels in the Interior of North America, the length was corrected. While the note under the club implies either a Sauk or Ponca attribution, a woodcut of the weapon is captioned as Ponca in Maximilian's publication. The actual club is now in the Linden-Museum collection. See Plate 350 for a watercolor illustration of this artifact.