Maker's name and markings
Since 1567, (Sentences des juges et consuls de la jurisdiction des marchands) all master knife makers in France are obliged to stamp a maker's mark on their products. This mark, stamped on the blade, is the sign of quality on all of their products. It allows the "visitors", chosen knife makers by their pars , to visit the workshops once a month, to identify the origin of the knives and for quality assurance purposes. All deposited marks are hallmarked on a lead tablet that dates from the year 1591 until the French Revolution, which is conserved in a safe that is secured by five locks and entrusted to the keep of the oldest "Maître-Coutelier" ; below is portion of the silver tablet for the years 1812-1857 for the town of Thiers, France. 11
The examination of these two tablets which were handed down over hundreds of years, reveals thousands of various types of marks: animals, organic, tools, numbers, alphabet etc.11
We can now say that most markings found on French clasp knives on French North American sites have been recorded on the St.Etienne tablet in France.
Lead table with knifemaker's marks from Saint-Etienne area (1737) (Musée de Saint-Etienne)
Close up of the Lead table
Almost all French clasp knife blades found on French sites are marked with a maker's name or marks that are legible or partially so depending on the level of damage caused by oxidation. Some are too rusted and pitted to distinguish any markings. The maker's name or mark always appears on one side of the blade (unlike trade axes), the side where the tip of the blade faces left. I have never seen any markings or maker's name on the other side. This could be a knife making standard established in France at the time.
Timothy J. Kent wrote a chapter on trade clasp knives in his book "Ft Pontchartrain at Detroit, Volumes I & II - A Guide to the Daily Lives of Fur Trade and Military Personnel, Settlers, and Missionaries at French Posts" (*Permission given by Timothy J. Kent's to publish excerpt)
"In some instances, cutlers , names were recorded on cargo manifests, inventories of outfitters' merchandise, and invoices of trade goods that were sent into the interior. For example, the 1733 cargo manifest of materiel which was shipped from the King's warehouse at Rochefort, France to his store- houses in Canada listed 2,160 dog head knives from the shop of the cutler Perrin. (N.A.C., MG 1, C11A, Microfilm F-60,f. 109f.)
Products of this manufacturer were also listed among the merchandise of the Montreal outfitters Desauniers and De Brouage in May of 1741. Their stock included 636 small sheath knives with a horn grip made by Perrin, as well as 2,412 of these same knives in medium size by the cutlers Berte (Bertet) and Chapelon, plus 72 fine sheath knives by the cutler Bizaillon. In addition, the supply of Siamese folding knives which they had on hand included 48 large versions with a sharp-pointed blade from the shop of Bizaillon, plus 96 large examples with a handle of yellow boxwood from the cutler Jolivet. (Inventory of 9 au 23 Mai, 1741, Notary Boucault, A.N.Q.-M)
In 1742, an inventory of the merchandise belonging to a St. Lawrence-based trading firm also noted products by two of the above-named cutlers. The stock of horn- handled Siamese dog head knives of medium size which had been produced in the shop of Perrin included 144 examples with a pointed-tip blade and 738 others with a round-tip blade; in addition, Bizaillon's work was represented by 102 fine sheath knives. (Kidd, untitled, p.128)
Products from the shop of the latter cutler were supplied on numerous occasions by the Montreal outfitter Moniere to interior traders. For instance, 72 of his sheath knives were sent to the Rainy Lake post in 1741,461 while 24 of these with a grip of yellow wood were provided to another trader the following year. (MMR, Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, Monière, Brouillard, Blotter 1739-1751, p.456)
In 1758, Moniere included 24 Siamese folding knives by Bizaillon in another consignment of trade goods" 1
The name PERRIN found on many of the Siamese blades refers to the family Perrin that were manufacturers of different metal implements and hardware in St.Etienne. In New-France, many records will mention PERRIN type knives referring to the maker and his particular style of knives. It is mentionned that a "couteaux Perrin" was a type of knife where the handle was generally decorated with the head of a dog "tête de chien ; grands,petits ou moyens". These were imported in vast quantities to New-France and kept in the King's stores in Québec city. : "37 grosses Couteaux flatins flamand Siamois et perrin a teste de chien" (National Archives of Canada of Canada from 1737)". * Marcel Moussette, Des couteaux pour la traite des fourrures
However, the names PALLE, TIVET, PERRIN are patronymes of blacksmiths, makers, filers of door hinges that were found in the town of Saint-Etienne during the 17th and 18th century and theirs stamps are on the 1737 lead table.
"...LISTE ALPHABETIQUE DES PATRONYMES DE FORGEURS, FAISEURS, LIMEURS de FICHES recensés dans les registres paroissiaux de la Ville de Saint-Etienne aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles dont LES MARQUES NE FIGURENT PAS A CE JOUR DANS LES RECHERCHES PARISIENNES MAIS DONT LES PRODUITS ONT SUREMENT CIRCULE SUR L'ENSEMBLE DU PAYS, dans les NATIONS ETRANGERES, voire dans les COLONIES FRANCAISES DU TEMPS."
BERAUD / BLANCHETON / BORY / BOYER / CANNONIER Claude (estampille relevée sur les croisées à petits carreaux du second étage de l'ancien hôtel particulier des METAYER (puis ALLEON et DELAROA), 11, rue José Frappa, Saint-Etienne, avec le concours de l'Architecte des Bâtiments de France dans la Loire) / CHEVALIER / CIZERON / COIGNET / COLLARD / DUNIERY / ESPARRON / FREY / FILLIOU (FILLIOUT) / GIDROL / GONOD-GOUNON-GONON / JOHANNY / JACQUET / JURIE (JURY) / LARDERET / MARON / MASSON / MEONS / MERIEUX / MONTAGNON (MONTAIGNON) / MONTUCLARD / MOSNIER / PALLE / PERRIN / PEYRON / PIN / REYNARD / SAGE / SANNEJARD / TIVET (avec d'autres prénoms que ceux recensé à Paris : Jean-Baptiste, père de Jacques et Pierre) / VEYRON (avec d'autres prénoms que ceux rencontrés à Paris : Laurent et Claude) / VILLARS" (Les faiseurs de "fiches"(charnières de fenêtres) stéphanois des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, - Catalogue des poinçons, par Claude Landes et Michel Bourlier)
Many of these knives with
maker's name have symbols separating the names or placed between words.
The diamond symbol "
",
a square "
", a "
"
or a rectangle symbol was often placed between words (i.e.
IEAN B TIVET).
It is not uncommon to see certain words partially cut on the top line (view
example below). This was probably done to format the layout of the
maker's name (our modern version of justifying) and as well most
likely for practical reasons when fabricating the stamp.
Another interesting similarity amongst all blades
is the fact that the maker's name was stamped on one or two lines depending
on the length of the name. Some would see this as a knife making
standard in France at the time. There is
usually the equivalent of number of letters on the
top and bottom row of the maker's name.
One thing that is quite interesting about the maker's name is that most were written using old French which has many different variations in spelling. To put it simply, the concept that there was only one way to spell a word was one that was unknown to old French scribes or in this case knife makers. The existence of spelling variations in different regions -- such as 'mont' in Paris, 'munt' in Normandy, for example is understandable. These are often the result of different pronunciations. Nevertheless, it is hard to accept the fact that even in texts written in a single regional dialect, by a single scribe, there are often different spellings of the same word, sometimes even within the same line! The reason for this is fairly simple: French had not yet standardized.
Very important to remember that in old French the letter "V" can represent or be interpreted as a "U" or "V" (i.e. BVISSON = BUISSON or LEIEVNE = LEJEUNE) and the same applies for the "I" which can be interpreted as a "J", "I","Î" or "Y" (i.e. IEAN = JEAN ). Another variance would be the "EZ" which would represent "É" (i.e. AYNEZ = AÎNÉ). As well, many times the letters would be missing either as a result of trying to condense many words on a small blade for practical reasons, or simply because of the fact that the French language was not standardized (i.e. FRANCOI = FRANCOIS).
The key to reading old French and deciphering words with variant spellings is to learn as many potential alternate spellings as possible. I have listed a few regular variations in spelling below:
ai, ei, e are sometimes interchangeable: fait, feit, fet
ou, u sometimes alternate: vus, vous
o, u also sometimes alternate, especially before n: sont, sunt; parlons, parlums
o, e sometimes alternate in weak position: je, jo; le, lo
o, ou representing the sound OH or AW sometimes alternate: chose, chouse
o, eu, ue, ou, u, oe all representing the sound Ö sometimes alternate: cort, court; fleur, flor; seignor, seignur; puet, peut, poet
en, an sometimes alternate
n and m sometimes alternate after vowels, especially O: parloms, parlons (the s is sometimes deleted in this ending)
oi, ei, e representing Francien "wé" sometimes alternate. EI is an older form of Francien OI, but was preserved in some regional dialects: foi, fei
eau and iau sometimes alternate: beau, biau
-e and -ie sometimes alternate, especially before r, n, or l: terre, tierre; cher, chier
ol, al sometimes become ou, au respectively: molt, mout (even moult); col, cou; halt, haut.
j, g sometimes alternate: je, ge
ng, n, representing 'ny' as in canyon, sometimes alternate.
gu, g sometimes alternate: gerre, guerre
h sometimes appears in front of vowels at the beginning of a word, sometimes not: home, ome.
c, ch, q(u) sometimes alternate, as do a and e in these cases: car, cher, querre
s, z sometimes alternate, especially at the end of words: vus, vuz
-x, -us sometimes alternate. Both are pronounced like -us: Dex, Deus, Diex, Dieus
The words "Layne" (L'aîné = the elder), "Lefils" (le fils = the son or son of), "Per" (père = the father), "Fil" (fils = son) was used on the markings due to the fact that knife making in France in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries was a trade that was passed down from generation to generation.
Sites where knife blades were found :
*Please note the number beside each site
Fort Albany, Ontario: 1610-1686
Ossossane Site, Midland, Ontario : 1624-1636
Ste. Marie, Midland Ontario: 1639-1649
Île-aux-oies, Québec : 1646-1759
The Zimmerman site, La Salle County, Illinois
: 1673 to
1691
Bell, Wisconsin: 1680-1730
Fatherland Site, Mississippi: 1682-1729
Womack, Texas: 1700-1730
Lasanen Site, Michigan: 1710 -1760
Gros Cap, Michigan: 1710-1763
Québec city, Canada : 1713-1752
Fort Michilimackinac, Michigan: 1715-1760
Guebert site, Randolph County, Illinois: 1719-1765
The River L’Abbe Mission Site, Illinois: 1735-1752
Fletcher Site Cemetery in Bay County,
Michigan:
1745-1765
The Gilbert Site, Texas: 1750-1775
Fort Gaspéreau, New Brunswick : 1751-1755
Fort St.Joseph, Michigan: 1750-1775
The Kaskaskia site, Illinois: 1750-1775
Rock Island, Wisconsin: late 1600's to mid 1700's.
Mackinac County, Michigan
(Personal find): 1600's to mid 1700's.
| Provenance and date | Caracteristics | Known markings |
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1673-1775 (see archaeological sites below) Sites where type 1 blades were found :
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Mary Elizabeth Good goes on to mention that "this type is characterized by a cutting edge which curves upward toward the tip, and a back edge which slopes downward toward the tip for about two-thirds of its length. This can be further identified in modern terminology as a "long clip point", the type frequently found on present day pocket knives." 7
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Names found on the blades :
Other markings and stamps on type 1 knives
|
|
Origin:
France
Date: French clasp knives
of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between
1680-1760
(Fort Michilimackinac, 1715-1781: An Archaeological Sites where Type 2 was found :
This type seems to be very specific to Fort Michilimackinac. |
|
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac : lenght 12.5 cm., width 2.0 cm) Names or markings found on the blades :
(found in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada)
|
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1624-1775 (see archaeological sites below) Sites where type 3 blades were found :
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(Knife blade found near Fort Michilimackinac: KG collection)
Names found on the blades :
Other markings and stamps on type 3 knives
*Fort Michilimackinac, 1715-1781: An Archaeological |
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1610-1775 (see archaeological sites below) Sites where type 3 blades were found :
|
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(Knife blade found near Fort Michilimackinac: KG collection)
Names found on the blades :
*Marcel Moussette, "Des couteaux pour la traite des fourrures", REVUE D'HISTOIRE DE LA CULTURE MATÉRIELLE / MATERIAL HISTORY REVIEW, Spring 2000 / Printemps 2000.
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Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1682-1760 (see archaeological sites below) Sites where Type 5 was found :
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(Knife blade found near Fort Michilimackinac: KG collection) (fleur de lys stamp) JACQVE GIRARD (site 21) |
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1680-1775 (see archaeological sites below)
Sites where Type 6 was found :
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Kitchen knife
|
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac)
(Knife blades found at Fort St-Joseph, Michigan)
Names found on the blades :
I-(E) (P)E -IEVN(E) (site 12)
PIERRE. B-(R) (site 12)
IVS(E) .CH APELON (site 18)
PIERRE.PER RIN LEFILS (site 18)
Other markings and stamps on type 1 knives
The Sept-Iles site in Quebec produced a specimen with the name "Louis De Lez". (view picture below)
LEVESQUE, René, Les vieux comptoirs de Sept-Îles, Leméac, Montréal, 1981, 188 p.
Questionable letters are placed in parentheses (a), and letters present but unidentified are designated by a dash (-). |
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1715-1775 (see archaeological sites below) Sites where Type 7 was found :
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Type A (Knife blade found at Fort Chambly during excavations of the 1702 fire)
Type B
(Knife blade found at Michilimackinac) No noted markings although figure 7B seems to have a maker's mark |
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Origin:
France
Dates: French clasp knives of this type were found at sites occupied or influenced by the French between 1715-1775 (see archaeological sites below)
Sites where Type 8 was found :
|
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No marking Type 8A - Angular blade-back shape
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac) Type 8B - Straight blade-back shape
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac) Type 8c - Angular blade-back shape with rounded heal
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac) Type 8A - Slightly concave, tapered blade-back shape
(Knife blade found at Fort Michilimackinac) |
(site 18,20)
(site 2)
(site 13)
