empire – knives of France

The Colonial knife was born in 1873 from specifications from the French war ministry. It was an attempt to provide a utility knife to the troops.

It was the very first folding knife officially adopted by the French armed forces.

The term “colonial” comes from the fact that it was first adopted by the colonial troops, before the Navy.

The description was pretty simple:

– A 9cm (3.55in) blade in the sheepfoot style for a total length of 20.5cm (8in) when open

– A steel spring for the slip joint mechanism, with a hole at the bottom to fix a lanyard.

– 2 wooden sides riveted to the steel liners.

The pins were often mounted on rosettes, to avoid breaking the handle.

The description added a rounded tip blade in 1939, the last year of the knife being distributed to the troops.

Late example with rounded tip. Each dent on the handle represents a month of service.

The knife is like a sailor knife, with its typical sheepfoot blade, supposedly to avoid stabbing in case of a fight between two soldiers.

Knife belonging to a soldier form the Marine artillery, service number H.1711

Pradel-Chomette was the first and most prolific manufacturer, but many others provided the knife.

Its official distribution to the troops stopped in 1939, but the type was simple, cheap, sturdy and popular and its fabrication lasted until the late 1960’s for the civilian market.

A good example of a simple yet sturdy sailor knife!

Soanen Mondanel was a big name in knife making in Thiers, the French capital, if not European, of knife making. It was famous in the 18th and 19th century for its brass handled motif knives representing artists or political figures

One of those knives was embossed with Napoleon, standing with, as usual, his hand in his waistcoat, with his seal and the French Imperial eagle, probably to celebrate his coronation as emperor in 1804.

After Napoleon was deposed and exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, the Bourbons were reinstated as royal family and Louis XVIII declared king. One of his acts to gain back control and erase Napoleon’s influence was to ban all the Napoleonic symbols.

Soanen Mondanel had to stop manufacturing their Napoleon knives but didn’t want to destroy the molds, maybe hoping that the emperor would be back. After all, he already came back from his first exile in Elba. The molds were buried next to the shop.

But Saint-Helena was probably remote enough and Napoleon never came back, the molds were forgotten.

In 1902, Antoine Cognet purchased the manufacture and gave it his name.

Today it is Pierre Cognet, his grand-son, who is running the factory. In 2005 the factory underwent renovations and the molds were discovered. After restoration, the molds were ready for a knife re-edition.

It is where enters a second knife maker, Couperier-Coursolle, who is still today the specialist of the brass handles and figurative knives.

Figurative brass handled navette by Coursolle

The knife is an alliance of those two manufacturers, Couperier-Coursolle making the handle and Cognet the XC75 carbon steel blade.

To symbolize this collaboration, the blade is marked with the two emblems, Cognet’s hare and Coursolle’s adjustable wrench.

Last reference to the past, the production was limited to 1815 pieces, in reference to the year when Napoleon was, for the second time and definitely, deposed, and all his symbols banned.

Tag: empire

Colonial Knife

Napoleon knife