This is a historic & important authentic American Indian Dag Knife, dated to circa 1850-1860, with elaborate and artful pewter inlay across the handle. This style of ornate dag knife is referred to as a “Chief’s Grade” or “Presentation Grade” knife as they were given to Chief’s and tribal dignitaries during trade negotiations and treaty signings. This example dates to the mid 19th century and has one of the finest geometric pewter inlaid design of any dag knife offered for sale. This knife was listed in Sotheby’s Arts of the American West Auction May 22, 2013 and was found to be an authentic impressive example by David Roche of Sotheby’s and given a $20,000 estimate. The knife is attributed to a Nez Perce Native American Indian who was a member of Chief Joseph’s band in Idaho. The forged iron knife shows a raised median ridge running down the center of the blade, an early weapons features also seen on gunstock war clubs and lance blades. The piece was part of the famed antique weapons collector of Arnold Marcus Chernoff and was part of the display that won awards at the National Rifle Association in 1975. The piece is pictured in the 2009 publication/book “The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art” by Mark Francis page 68 figure 116. This is one of the finest examples known to exist in any museum or private collection. This piece would not have been owned by an average Indian and is truly an extremely rare piece. From the Ex-collections of Chernoff/Francis. The dag measures 12 inches long overall and 2.25 inches wide. American Indian early dag knives are commonly referred to as “Blackfoot” or “Blackfoot Beaver Paddle/ Beavertail” dag knives. This is due to the fact most dag knives were traded on the frontier along the Great Lakes region through the St. Lawrence seaway westward by early fur traders. From the Great Lakes region on westward the knives became very popular among the Northern Plains/Upper Plateau tribes such as the Cree, Metis, Blackfoot, Nez Perce, Chippewa/Ojibiwa and Shoshone. These were made to be killing weapons, this is why dag knives show a clean long double sided blade without any serration as they were for battle. Unlike other knives worn by Indian Warriors the dag knife would have been worn around the Indians neck on his chest. References:Sothebys New York Sale N08997 May 2013"Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art""Who's Who in Relic Collecting"

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