5 1/2" Porphyry Iowa Slant Groove Axe Made by the Late TJ Onken August 1, 1946 - April 6, 2018. Considered the best axe maker of the past several decades TJ made a living making axes for his Brother and a fellow he called "Duke" from near Bethany Missouri but did part with his work occasionally to close friends. TJ was very proud of the work he did for his benefactors. He specialized in Missouri Squares, Iowa Slant Grooves, Nebo Axes, Raised Ridge axes and really any axe form other than a full groove. Typically he used attractive stones like the one this axe is made of if he was able to find them. The Author of this listing was a close personal friend and student Mr.. Onken. TJ's Axes are usually quite easy to identify although he did copy as closely the old ones presented to him by his primary two buyers as models. His tooling lent him to habits in his workmanship which distinguished his work from other modern axe makers. He never really had an interest in collecting ancient Relics and spread his cheer, knowledge and experiences with lots of people at Knap Ins and through his Lithic Artist Books which he started in the early 2000's. In his later years TJ's work commanded a hundred dollars an inch unless it was one he wasn't fond of or if he just wanted someone to have one of his axes. We look forward to offering up pieces of TJ's artwork here on future sales along with books that display his works. We see them quite regularly coming from collectors who unknowingly purchased one here and there at auctions thinking they got an old one.

Modern/Vintage