Old folding knife

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jimhofius
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Old folding knife

Post by jimhofius »

Anyone know anything about this knife? I got it from my great grandfather
from Allentown PA ?
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edge213
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Re: Old folding knife

Post by edge213 »

I know nothing about it, but it is a cool old knife.
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LongBlade
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Re: Old folding knife

Post by LongBlade »

Cool knife!! Definitely I'm not an expert in these knives but recently saw a few at a show or shop - so think they are called Navajas and were mostly Spanish and maybe some French in design... I seem to remember some originating in South America ... Some were pretty ornate in the handle design with Horn, Bone and bronze - similar same shape handle as your knife though many Navajas were more horn like in shape ... and no doubt a big folding blade was similar .. That's my best guess but hopefully someone will come along with better info...
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Lee
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Re: Old folding knife

Post by knife7knut »

It's called a Corsican vendetta knife;usually made in France. BRL says they vary in length from about 5" to 10" closed;bone handles etched with various designs.Sometimes they have etched blades with various sayings.Made in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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deo-pa
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Re: Old folding knife

Post by deo-pa »

I have several of these and I find them an interesting knife to collect because of the broad range of sizes, inscriptions, etc. Here is some information I copied from another forum.

Dennis

The successful publishing of the novela "Colomba" by Prospero Merimee in 1840, introduced large numbers in France to a highly romanticized rendition of Corsica, with its passionate and quarelsome inhabitants. This distorted presentation exalted the fierce and indomitable bandit, ever ready to shed blood in the defence of his land, family relations and honour. The general impression conveyed was that the whole population of this island was permanently embroiled in vendettas, the causes of which were buried in the mists of time. What is certain is that whatever vendettas there were, were prosecuted mostly with the muzzle loading guns of the day. But popular romantic notions demanded nobler weapons, and the novelae authors obliged with swords and gigantic folding knives.h

The cutlers of Thiers could not ignore the commercial opportunities presented by all this combined with the then emergent tourism to the island; As such, we find that the most peddled souvenir, to visitors, was the folding knife allegedly used in the aforementioned feuds.

To satisfy this new market, the cutlers of Thiers settled on a folding knife that many years before was sold in the Mediteranean regions under the name of "Maltes" and "Neapolitan". It had a long slim and pointy blade, the handle of which was provided with a large metallic bolster and a backspring that affixed it in the open position. The scales were of horn or bone, decorated with arabesques and floral motives, drawn with Indian ink, and with the ever present Moor's Head (Tete de More), the emblem of the island. The blades are nearly always acid engraved with popular captions that encapsulate imputed popular sentiments such as "Vendetta Corsa", "Death To My Enemy" and so on.

The introduction of this knife met with enormous commercial success and the format was and is manufactured to this day in sizes ranging from the diminutive to very large, over 60cms, specimens. This imposed upon the popular mind the form of the native Corsican knife, what it ought to be, which became and remains an icon of the island.
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