Tarry Levigne Lizard knife - French

[woodwalker]

My brother in law just give me this knife. I dont know much about the maker. AAPK has little on it. Does anyone know anything about it? It looks like it might be Ebony. Thanks in advance.

[Dan In MI]

My first thought was that it reminds me a little of my Cold Steel Kudu. The Kudu has a spring of similar design, and a ring is passed through the hole. It's a surprisingly strong mechanism. Unfortunately, I can't be of any help beyond that. But your brother-in-law did give you a very unusual and cool knife!

[Ridgegrass]

Levine's Guide says."Tarry-Levigne, Pierre, Thiers, France. Manufacturer, 1864-19??". That's all. I've seen them before and heard them called strap or back-strap springs. It's a nice one, wood looks like ebony. Ferd.Everts (Okapi) of Germany made a modern version of that style. I have one but I'll have to dig it out. Good luck. J.O'..

[woodwalker]

Levine's Guide says."Tarry-Levigne, Pierre, Thiers, France. Manufacturer, 1864-19??". That's all. I've seen them before and heard them called strap or back-strap springs. It's a nice one, wood looks like ebony. Ferd.Everts (Okapi) of Germany made a modern version of that style. I have one but I'll have to dig it out. Good luck. J.O'..

Thank you sir for all the info. I thought it might be Ebony as well. It's a unique knife to me. I would love to see your Okapi. Thanks again!

[woodwalker]

My first thought was that it reminds me a little of my Cold Steel Kudu. The Kudu has a spring of similar design, and a ring is passed through the hole. It's a surprisingly strong mechanism. Unfortunately, I can't be of any help beyond that. But your brother-in-law did give you a very unusual and cool knife!

Thanks Dan! I seen other ones when I googled it with the ring. I'm glad to be its care taker for a while.

[Ridgegrass]

WW: Here's the Okapi. Okapi is a "forest giraffe","Congolese giraffe", or "Zebra giraffe". It's the only other member of the family,"Giraffidae".
Anyway the knife is made of a nice single piece of wood, but the metal is very low grade. Looks like an inexpensive souvenir. Your knife is far better. The butt end of yours looks like a budding blade. ? J.O'.

[woodwalker]

I like yours. Thank you for showing it. Here are a few pics of the end.

[Ridgegrass]

From the original pics I thought it was much thinner. That's no budding tool, my mistake, It's a great looking piece, J.O'.

[woodwalker]

Thank you sir!! Appreciate you!!

[Dan In MI]

I've seen them before and heard them called strap or back-strap springs.

I think I've heard that term before, too. Thanks for jogging my memory!

Thanks Dan! I seen other ones when I googled it with the ring. I'm glad to be its care taker for a while.

You are very welcome. Enjoy your time as its care taker!

[Alien883]

My brother in law just give me this knife. I dont know much about the maker. AAPK has little on it. Does anyone know anything about it? It looks like it might be Ebony. Thanks in advance.

Nice, old French spring back knife...these knives developed together with knives from early Spain and later Italy...some even had a ring attached to lift locking spring!! The rural areas in France had plenty of these before the famous Laguiole came around....nice example of early French cutlery!!

PS: after a second look....your knife is a ring lock!!! There is the latch with the hole for the missing ring on the end of the Spring!!! Cool!!

[woodwalker]

My brother in law just give me this knife. I dont know much about the maker. AAPK has little on it. Does anyone know anything about it? It looks like it might be Ebony. Thanks in advance.

Nice, old French spring back knife...these knives developed together with knives from early Spain and later Italy...some even had a ring attached to lift locking spring!! The rural areas in France had plenty of these before the famous Laguiole came around....nice example of early French cutlery!!

PS: after a second look....your knife is a ring lock!!! There is the latch with the hole for the missing ring on the end of the Spring!!! Cool!!

Allen, thank you so much for the information. I appreciate learning about this old knife my brother in law gifted me. I did google search on Tarry Levigne cutlery and got 1864 - ??. One said 1864 to 1934. I really like the knife. The ring on the knife is not old or original. I could not figure out how to close it when I first got it. I did read a blog on french knives and seen where it was called a Palm knife because the back spring is shaped like a palm leaf. I read where they were produced for the war effort during ww one (46,000) to provide as a fighting knife but were discontinued because of it's simple design would not stand up. If you have any more info on these knives I would be happy to learn. I appreciate very much you sharing your knowledge with me. I put this ring on it to help me open it.

[woodwalker]

I also found this picture of a similar knife as mine.

[Alien883]

My brother in law just give me this knife. I dont know much about the maker. AAPK has little on it. Does anyone know anything about it? It looks like it might be Ebony. Thanks in advance.

Nice, old French spring back knife...these knives developed together with knives from early Spain and later Italy...some even had a ring attached to lift locking spring!! The rural areas in France had plenty of these before the famous Laguiole came around....nice example of early French cutlery!!

PS: after a second look....your knife is a ring lock!!! There is the latch with the hole for the missing ring on the end of the Spring!!! Cool!!

Allen, thank you so much for the information. I appreciate learning about this old knife my brother in law gifted me. I did google search on Tarry Levigne cutlery and got 1864 - ??. One said 1864 to 1934. I really like the knife. The ring on the knife is not old or original. I could not figure out how to close it when I first got it. I did read a blog on french knives and seen where it was called a Palm knife because the back spring is shaped like a palm leaf. I read where they were produced for the war effort during ww one (46,000) to provide as a fighting knife but were discontinued because of it's simple design would not stand up. If you have any more info on these knives I would be happy to learn. I appreciate very much you sharing your knowledge with me. I put this ring on it to help me open it.

Lol...you did the right thing...there was a ring supposed to be there...you just fixed it!!!