Hi Gene,
Trying to learn something, I had a look through my books on navajas and searched the net to find that:
In Forton's `Navajas Antiguas' pgs 114-117 there is a section dedicated to Corsican folders, which he lists as French. He shows 11 specimens similar to yours, the biggest with a 20cm blade. All are attributed to early 20th century. The author does not say if these were manufactured in Corisca or mainland France, but a number of them have brands stamped with a name plus AJACCIO, a major city on the island, as is Bastio (on yours).
In De Vivar's `La Navaja Clasica' pg 58 there is an illustration of another small French "Corsican" folder but this one appears to be either slip joint or friction folder. It has a 12cm etched decorated blade and painted handle with the inscriptiion `Valladolid' a city of northern Spain! Vivar assigns this folder to the early 20th century. The blade has also inscribed on it `ACIER FONDU' (cast steel).
This article from the New York Times, published in1881, claims that Corsican vendettas were perpetrated mostly with firearms:
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...679D94609FD7CF
A very informative paper, translated by Google, on Corsican cut & thrust weapons:
http://translate.googleusercontent.c...HQb526Fe1aRgMA. The authors mentions that in the 19th century, the local merchants cashed in on the tourist's preconceptions as inspired by novelas. He also appears to say that the islanders began to manufacture "robust" folding knives at the end of the 19th century, in most cases without a spring. Perhaps someone fluent in French can read the original paper and clarify this, as the Google translation leaves a lot to be desired
This is an excellent French website's section on Corsican fixed blade knives:
http://www.couteaux-jfl.com/Corse.htm. Perhaps you could drop the owner a line and see what he has to say on the subject.
Cheers
Chris