knives of france – 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

November 22, 2022September 17, 2023

Pradel knife

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The Pradel knife is one of the few French knives that doesn’t have a city for name.

It gets its name from its inventor: Etienne Pradel, who created the type in 1867.

It is in fact inspired by English knives, from Sheffield, hence the large kick on the blade.

The success wasn’t great around Thiers where it was manufactured but it finally found interest in Normandy and Brittany with farmers and fishermen, especially those going on fishing campaigns around Newfoundland.

It was so popular that the pattern originally called “English style” finally adopted the name of its creator and that other manufacturers used the Pradel name for theirs, generating countless lawsuits.

The knife is simple, a spear blade, generally with a half-stop and a slightly trapezoidal, flat, handle with usually black horn covers and 4, 5 or 6 pins for extra sturdiness and a short bolster on top.

It was later developed in a multiblade version and countless sizes.

A simple worker’s knife, still popular today.

Find it 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

November 7, 2020

Issoire knife

As often with French regional knives, the Issoire knife gets its name from a city name, probably because it was originally made or sold in this city.

Its origin is unknown, but there is trace of an order for knives in the “Issoire style” in 1888.

The knife is typical of the knives originating from Auvergne, like the Yssingeaux or straight Laguiole.

It is a slipjoint, with a drop point blade, the point falling very low, giving it almost a wharncliffe shape. It has a swedge on one side, across around a third of the blade.

The handle usually goes thinner towards the bottom, with a long bolster on top and often, but not always, a second bolster at the bottom. The bottom is always in a “crow beak” shape when the top one is often, especially for the older models, in a diamond shape.

The sides are usually made of bone or ivory with large rivets and can be decorated with ink arabesques or dotted with pins.

The spring ends with a long “mouche” on top, usually in a “man’s head” shape (when it is a bee on modern laguioles for example); and has often a lanyard hole on the other end.

This knife was also very popular with the wine merchants from center France and then equipped with a very strong awl, often with a pyramidal point, used to open the wine barrels bungs.

A very elegant tool with some modern interpretations.

September 19, 2020October 4, 2021

Alpin knife

The Alpin knife, also known as the Savoyard, Mountaineer, alpinist or even Saint-Bernard was born towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Its exact origin is unknown but we can find a similar model in the other side of the Alps in Italy.

The first Alpin brand was registered by Rivière-Caburol in 1905.

It was the main competitor of the famous Opinel, born in the same region and at the same time.

Alpin by Opinel — Even Opinel made its own version at some point

The knife is simple. A Yatagan blade with a half-stop, a spring for the slipjoint system and the handle, that can be with or without bolsters, is made of 2 wooden side.

The first ones were using larch wood, but other woods appeared when all the production was finally transferred to Thiers, like other regional knives.

We also saw cattle horn and even acrylic in some cheaper models.

Coming from Thiers, its diffusion was wider than just the Alps and it was even sold in North-Africa.

Alpin by 749GV — The star was for the North African market

The Alpin knife still has modern interpretations and is still a very simple and appreciated knife.

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

August 29, 2020

Colonial Knife

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!

August 8, 2020October 4, 2021

Yatagan knife

The Yatagan knife gets its name from the Yataghan, or yatağan, a short sword in use in the Ottoman Empire until the late nineteenth century.

The blade is inspired by the sword blade.

That shape was probably bring back by the Napoleonic troops after their Egyptian campaign and the “orientalism” trend of the nineteenth century made the type popular.

The blade shape was later used to give the Laguiole knife its actual form.

It is a simple slipjoint, with its characteristic clip point blade, usually with a half-stop, a slightly arched handle and sides usually made of cattle horn.

The type was mainly used in the South-west of France.

The Basque Yatagan

Among all those South-West users were some tobacco growers who used their Yatagan to cut-off damaged or dirty tobacco leaves. But the tobacco plants produce a thick sap that was covering the knife’s handle, making it slippery.