French Chatellerault 'pocket' knife
 

I just acquired this rather big pocket knife. The knife originates from the French town of Chatellerault and was made between 1830 and 1850. The blade can be locked in open position. The handle is made of nickel silver (or similar), turtle, pearl and bone. The bone is embellished with a knight / bird pattern. The knife is immense: 28 cm closed, 54 cm open!

Enjoy!

Very nice piece, TimW,
Say, how did you find out it was a Chatellerault specimen in the first place ?
Did you know that before you acquired it, as having consulted that book?
... Just curious, as it is often so hard to find out the origin of things :shrug:

About 2 years ago I found a similar knife and did some research (first thaught it was spanish). When I saw it on an Ebay-like website I immediately knew what it was...

very nice
 

must have very big pockets! regards napoleon :rolleyes:

Just a stunning knife, Tim... Absolutely beautiful.

Not only does it appeal to me as an early European folder, but the workmanship is very fine, and the size! :eek:

Fires for me on all cylinders. :)



ETA: The knife looked vaguely familiar, and sure sure enough I found a near-exact match in an old auction catalog from 2005. The only differences are a) your example has three sets of parallel lines engraved on the bolster while the example in my auction catalog has two, and b) your example is in better condition. :)

Other than that, the length, design, grip scale (only the reverse is shown in my catalog), and tortoiseshell inserts are a dead ringer.

:) ;) It is very interesting knife. It's very nice. ;) :)