History – knives of France

September 28, 2023September 29, 2023

Coursolle sujet knife

Leon Coursolle, born 1877, was an intinerant merchant and ended up marrying the daughter of one of his vendors, a cutler named Fedit who was making novelty knives with bone sides and some simple scrimshaw.

Disappointed by his father in law’s production, he devised a new type of pocketknife, inspired by German production in Solingen.

Germans were the precursors of novelty knives with brass or aluminum handle by the end of the 18^th century, notably owned by the carriers. Some were also made in France in early 19^th century (see the history of the Napoleon knife) https://knives-of-france-blog.com/napoleon-knife/.

The handle of the knife, traditionally made of a liner and a cover (wood, horn, bone etc.) would be replaced by a single piece of brass, saving material and time for the assembly.

But what the customer was losing in refinement and aesthetics, Leon was making it up by putting a nice stamp on the brass.

Leon met a minter from the National Mint that made him the first matrix for his handles. The Coursolle sujet knife was born and the first one made in 1902.

The knife quickly became famous and sometimes called “yellow knife” for the color of the handle.

Leon trademarked first a wrench in 1905, then adjustable wrenches in 1926.

More recently Jean-Marc Couperier, now owner of the Coursolle cutlery, added his own vision of the Laguiole and Thiers knives with, obviously, brass handles.

How to make a Coursolle sujet knife

The side are first cut from a sheet of brass then power hammered in the dies where the embossing appears, some of the classics are the hunter, fisherman, spinner, venus etc.

The blade is classically made in carbon steel XC75, drop forged and water quenched. Some models are now available in stainless steel.

The knives come, since the beginning, in 4 sizes: 105mm, 90mm, 80mm and 70mm and in a variety of versions from a single blade to a 6 blades competing with the famous SAK. Each version has a number, the one attributed by Leon Coursolle a century ago.

The knives are then assembled using steel rivets, everything is still made like a 100 years ago, all by hand.

The only concession to modernity: a foot operated cutter is used to cut the rivets and the rivet heads are rounded by a power hammer.

Each brass side receives a clear coating.

Each piece is then inspected by the senior cutler to check the action and fix some defects (re-align the blade to seat in the handle once folded, adjustment of the kick to correct a proud tip etc.)

The production is true to the tradition and original manufacturing process, a new Coursolle is almost a NOS piece.

Find some on knives-of-france.com

April 5, 2022

Langres knife

The Langres knife gets its name from the eponym city, Langres, in eastern France.

Its origin can be dated to the end of the 16^th century, but since 1900 in its current form.

French knife Langres Parapluie a l'epreuve wood handle

It can be considered as the French equivalent of the boy’s knife with its rather small size and sheepsfoot style blade, it was traditionally given to boys for their religious confirmation, around 12/14 yo, which marked the end of childhood.

Vintage French knife Langres by Le Sabot

Vintage French folding knife Langres Le Sabot

Vintage French knife Langres Sheepsfoot blade

It’s a simple slipjoint, with traditionally a round handle with a single but strong top bolster and a sheepsfoot blade.

French knife Langres parts sheepsfoot blade

The handle can be of various materials: horn, synthetic or wood.

Vintage Langres French knife slipjoint black horn

Vintage Langres Brossard carbon steel knife

The size can vary, but it’s rather small

Vintage Langres knife alternative handle

A utilitarian knife, easy to slip in the pocket.

Langres French knife wood handle slipjoint folder

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March 22, 2022

Donjon knife

This strong knife gets its name from a village in the Allier region of France.

With its wide sheepsfoot blade, it was appreciated by farm workers and market gardeners.

As often with those traditional knives, the blade doesn’t have a kick and the tip rests on the spring. With that extremely wide blade, it allows for extensive sharpening without any proud tip issue.

The handle can be in horn or wood with a single bolster on top and the typical rounded end.

A tough knife made for heavy work

Find this knife on http://Knives-of-france.com

March 16, 2022March 21, 2022

Saint Martin knife

The Saint Martin is part of the central France style of knife, along with the Issoire, Yssingeaux or Laguiole.

The big difference is that this knife was not popular among the rural people but popular with the clergy.

Monks and priests liked its fineness to sharpen geese feathers and make quill pens.

The knife follows the center France style with a bourbon blade, end of the handle in form of a crow beak and a smooth mouche and the end of the back spring.

The handle often has top and bottom bolsters

An elegant knife, thin and easy to handle.

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

October 2, 2021October 25, 2021

Aurillac knife

As the majority of French Regional knives, the Aurillac gets its name from a city, in Auvergne, central France.

It is one of the classical knives from central France with their typical bourbon blade, like the Yssingeaux, Saint-Martin or Issoire.

But it was not always like we know it today.

By the middle of the 19^th century, it was already famous and made by various knife makers, in Aurillac.

When it already had the classic bourbon blade, the handle was very different with usually a rather flat handle and 3 (yes, 3) bolsters, one on each side and one in the middle, with various decors.

Aurillac primitive — Credit: le couteau.info.com

Matthieu Herrero made a re-edition of the primitive form.

Aurillac primitive Herrero — Credit: Matthieu Herrero

It’s by the end of the 19th century that the modern form appeared, with the “fat” handle, traditionally made of horn or wood.

The general form remains the same and we find the same recess at the end of the handle, used as some sort of easy pull.

It is a peasant knife, made for hard work with a strong bolster on top.

The knife felt into oblivion for a while before being relaunched in 1990. Today, like most of regional knives, the production is made in Thiers.

An elegant and strong knife, really comfortable, both in the hand or in the pocket.

Find this knife on http://knives-of-france.com

April 17, 2021October 4, 2021

Vendetta knife

Corsica is a French island, just above Sardegna, in the Mediterranean Sea.

It is French since the end of the Eighteenth century but was under Genoan domination for centuries before that, reason why the Corsican language is close to Italian and the Corsican culture is marked by its Genoan history.

The Vendetta is now considered as the classical Corsican knife, but its history is a bit particular.

Everything started with a novel from Prosper Merimee: Colomba, that came out in 1840. The book is about a vendetta, or vengeance, between two families.

This book came along a development of tourism in Corsica and merchants from Ajaccio, the capital city, got the idea of making a knife typical that tourists would bring back.

They, of course, turned toward Thiers for the manufacturing.

The knife is inspired by the Corsican stylet, coming itself from the Genoan stylet, a thin dagger.

The knife is characteristic with its thin spear point blade, its very long top bolster, that takes roughly half of the handle and the recess in that bolster to make it look like a stylet.

The handle was traditionally made of bone or ivory with ink decoration, usually arabesques and flowers. The moor’s head, traditional symbol of Corsica, appeared later.

The blade was often etched with mottos relating to the vendetta theme:

Vendetta Corsa : corsican vengeance

Vendetta Morte : vengeance until death

Vindica l’Unore : avenge the honor

Morte al Nemico : death to the enemy

The knife was a commercial success but not really popular with the locals, favoring more traditional knives like the curnicciolu, famous with the shepperds.

However, since the 1990’s, some cutlers from the island revived the type and increased the quality. It was then, again, produced by Thiers’ cutlers

Vendetta Reynewaeter — Vendetta by Gilles Reynewaeter

Vendetta arbalete — Vendetta by Arbalete Genes David

Vendetta Fontenille Pataud — Vendetta by Fontenille Pataud

Today it is still typical from the “Island of beauty”, as we call it, and a very interesting knife

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

March 6, 2021March 8, 2022

Laguiole knife part 2

Knife anatomy

Even if some makers are still making straight laguioles, the norm is now more for the modern form with the yatagan blade, as invented by Pierre-Jean Calmels.

Modern straight laguiole with damascus steel blade

Of course, stainless blades are now also the norm. They tend to all have a kick on the tang, that rests on the backspring when the knife is folded, letting the edge away from the spring. Original laguioles had the tip of the blade resting on the spring. This is still true on some modern Alpin or Barrel knives for example. When it often leaves a part of the blade not so sharp (blade rap), due to the contact with the spring, it makes it more convenient in the long run. Back in the days, when the knives were used everyday to eat, to do all kind of work, the blade was sharpened over and over and over until sometimes being half the original width.

With a kick, and after heavy sharpening, the tip can overhang form the handle (proud tip), making it dangerous. No risk of that with the tip resting on the spring. That lack of kick is the reason why you should not snap close those knives but slowly follow the operation until the tip rests on the spring.

Nowadays the bee at the end of the spring is the norm but some other styles can be found, like flowers, musical instruments or other symbols.

The bee can be welded or forged. Forged is the historical way of doing it, the end of the spring is hammered then shaped with a file. The welded bee is a simpler (and therefore cheaper) way of doing it. A bee, often stamped, is welded at the end of the spring. Same goes with the filework of the backspring, it is hand made for the higher end knives, it is stamped for the cheaper ones.

Around 1880 appeared an awl on Laguiole knives. This was a request from shepherds. It is used to treat bloat on livestock, after eating hay all winter, sheep, cows etc. were feasting on fresh green grass, but this can create an accumulation of gas in the stomach and be dangerous for the animal, the awl was used to punch a small hole and bleed that gas, reason why that awl is rather thin.

A corkscrew was added a bit later, asked by those leaving their Aubrac region to go work in cafes in Paris.

The knives can have top or bottom bolsters, either in steel or brass, or be full handles, originally in cattle horn, ivory arrived later on more luxurious models and they can now be found in various types of wood.

Myths and legends

The brand:

Laguiole is not a brand, rather a style like can be an alpin, Yssingeaux or even a balisong or a stockman.

A Laguiole brand was registered in the nineties, selling all kind of products, mainly of Asian origin, but after a long battle from the city and manufacturers, it became again a common name. The fact that it is not registered also explains the countless cheap versions from Asia. Basically, anybody can make a laguiole. Of course, if you are looking for French authenticity and heritage, get one made in Laguiole or Thiers.

The bee:

There is often a confusion between the bee and the fly, it is basically a translation mistake. The “mouche” is the end of the spring, towards the blade. It can be found on various types of knives like the Issoire, Yssingeaux or Saint Martin.

Vintage issoire with its characteristic “mouche”

Besset smooth bee — Vintage laguiole from the 1950’s with a smooth mouche

The word mouche translates by fly, the insect. But it’s originally the last name of the cutler who invented the system. The same kind of story goes for the boats on the river Seine in Paris, the bateaux Mouches are not fly boats, Mouches being the name of the owner of the first company operating that kind of boats, the name became generic after that…

The mouche was originally not decorated, like on the Yssingeaux.

The first decoration appeared at the end of the Nineteenth century, with the request for more elegant, sophisticated knives. The first decor were flowers, the first bee appearing at the beginning of the Twentieth century, symbol of the industrious insect. The legend of the bee given by Napoleon to the city of Laguiole is, at best, inaccurate.

Dauvillaire horological mouche — Horological themed mouche by David Dauvillaire

David Dauvillaire bee — Classic bee by David Dauvillaire

The shepherd’s cross:

Vintage Lacaze laguiole — Shepperd’s cross on a vintage Lacaze

Laguiole forge de Laguiole — Laguiole by Forge de Laguiole with shepperd’s cross

A lot of laguiole knives have a characteristic cross, made of pins, on the handle. The legend says that the shepherds were sticking their knives on a loaf of bread, presenting the cross in front of them, to pray before their meal. That cross appeared late in the Twentieth century so, even if the symbol is nice, the legend is a little bit fabricated.

The Spanish origin:

What inspired Pierre-Jean Calmels to modify the traditional laguiole into the modern version is unknown, but the idea that navajas bring from Spain are at the origin of the modern laguiole is far fetch.

Find some laguiole knives on http://knives-of-france.com

February 13, 2021February 23, 2022

Laguiole knife part 1

The laguiole is probably the most famous French knife and its history and origin are full of legends and inaccuracies.

I will try here to be as accurate and factual as possible.

As almost every French regional knife, the laguiole gets its name from the eponym city, in the Aubrac region.

The first cutlers registered in Laguiole arrived in the first part of the Nineteenth century.

At the time, it was small workshops where all the steps were made by a single cutler.

The very first laguiole, called straight laguiole, was fairly similar to the other knives of the area like the Yssingeaux, Issoire or even Saint Martin, with a straight handle ending in a crow beak and a drop point blade, called Bourbon blade.

Vintage Saint Martin 2 — Vintage Saint Martin

vintage straight laguiole — Vintage straight laguiole

It is somewhere between 1850 and 1860 that the laguiole in its modern form was invented by Pierre-Jean Calmels.

He replaced the Bourbon blade by a Yatagan blade (see my history of the Yatagan knife) and made a handle with the curve we know today.

Both straight and modern laguioles co-existed until early in the Twentieth century.

laguiole Arto — Modern interpretation of a straight laguiole by Arto

Towards the end of the Nineteenth century, part of the production was transferred to Thiers, the industrial hub, like a lot of other regional knives.

vintage laguiole poyet sivet — Vintage laguile by Poyet Sivet circa 1900

The very first decorated laguioles appear at the same time with a decorated mouche (top end of the spring) and file work on the spring.

At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Pagès and Calmels, both great names in the laguiole knives, received a gold medal for their knives.

laguiole pages — Vintage laguiole by Pages

At the beginning of the Twentieth century, and the trend for gentlemen to carry a pocketknife, the decor of the knives get more refined with ivory handles in the shape of a pigeon wing, butterfly, rattlesnake tail or even mythical or historical figures like Napoleon.

Laguiole Calmels pigeon wing — Laguiole “pigeon wing”

The mouche sees also various shapes, including the famous bee.

With a lot or workers mobilized and large orders from the Army to Thiers, the first world war is the beginning of the decline of knife making in Laguiole, most of the production being made in Thiers.

Laguiole Genes David — Vintage Laguiole by Genes David in Thiers

The last Laguiole forge closed around 1950

Mid 1980’s was restarted a knifemaking activity in the city of Laguiole.

Find some on knives-of-france.com

January 16, 2021

Nontron knife

The classic Nontron knife is the oldest folding knife in France.

Nontron is the name of a village from the Dordogne region of France.

The region is naturally rich in iron ore and boxwood.

In the Roman age already, the people living there was renown for their craftmanship in iron products.

In the Fourteenth century, Nontron’s knifemaking was famous and the city was a mandatory stop for cutlers learning the art.

In the Seventeenth century, Guillaume Legrand, master cutler from Paris, settled in Nontron and started making the famous Nontron’s folding knife. He is the one who invented the ferrule, or ring lock, a few years later. As a reminder, the ring lock appeared on the Opinel knife in 1955!

In the Eighteenth century, two families, Bernard and Petit, took over the Nontron’s cutleries.

During the first World War, Nontron’s cutleries were requisitioned by the War Ministry to produce palm knives (see the article about the palm knife history). A knife remnant of that era is still produced today.

A few years after the end of the war, only the Petit cutlery was still in operation.

In 1931 Alphonse Chaperon purchased the cutlery, starting the Nontron Chaperon era, until 1986.

Today the cutlery is the property of Forges de Laguiole.

The knife is simple.

the wooden handle, traditionally in boxwood, can now be found in various woods like ebony, violet wood or some tastefully done mixes. The boxwood is really hard and sturdy and will develop a nice patina over time and turn into a nice honey yellow color.

The boxwood handles are traditionally decorated with the characteristic Nontron symbol, the “fly”, that looks like an arch, surrounded by 3 dots, and some dotted lines or stipplings.

A traditional Nontron pocket knife has 4 lines of stippling and 5 flies.

The meaning of that symbol has been lost in time and still today nourishes lots of legends: religious symbol, emblem of a guild?

The handles have, traditionally, 4 different shapes: ball, clog, fish tail and double ferrule.

Even if throughout the history various blade shapes have been seen, the “sage leaf” is the more traditional. It is now in T12 stainless (a proprietary stainless of Forges de Laguiole), but some carbon steel XC75 and Damascus steel blades are made.

The ferrule, or ring lock, is in brass on the boxwood models and nickel silver for the other types of handle.

Each step of the knife assembly is made, from beginning to end, by a single cutler: assembling the blade, pin, ferrule, handle finish, sharpening…

A real piece of history, timeless and elegant.

November 28, 2020October 4, 2021

Montpellier knife

The Montpellier knife gets its name from the city seating in South of France, next to the Mediterranean Sea.

It was primarily a sailor knife, created around the seventeenth or eighteenth century.

The knife itself is really simple, a 2 pins friction folder, like a Capucin, no spring or locking system here, it can’t be simpler.

The blade shape is difficult to define, between a clip point and a wharncliff. The straight cutting edge is typical of the sailor knife, like a sheepfoot, mainly dedicated to cut ropes.

The handle is faceted, slightly trapezoidal and with sometimes a hole at the end to affix a lanyard

Very popular with the sailors, it was produced in big quantities by many manufacturers, including Soanen Mondanet, that became Cognet. It lost popularity at the beginning of the Twentieth century, replaced by slipjoint knives, more modern, and the type was forgotten.

But recently some old books and blades were found in the attic of Cognet’s workshop and the knife re-made.

The new version is faithful to the original with an XC75 carbon steel blade.

An interesting piece, remnant from the past and full of character.

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com