19th C Navaja Knives
 

Hi Everyone,
Thought that some of you may be interested in seeing these knives. Looking at the group from left to right I believe them to be 19th C.
No 1 I think that this is of French manufacture fo the Spanish market. It has a strong spring but does not lock and I can just mafke out the stap on the blade as Toledo. The closed length is 7.5 ins and open length 14 ins.

No 2 I think that this is Spanish from Albaceta. The blade has a locking mechanism and inscriptions in Spanish on both sides just below the back edge but they are to worn for my eyes to make out. the only one I can see properly is a date of 1851. The closed length is 8.5 ins and open length is 17.75 ins.

No 3 I think Spanish from Albaceta, it has a locking mechanism and the blade is deeply stamped with something like Pamila which makes no sense to me. The closed length is 9.5 ins and open length is 18 ins.

No 4 Again Spanish from Albaceta with locking mechanism and inscriptions on both sides of the blade. The one that is just legible to me reads Defiendo mi opinie. The closed length is 9.75 ins and open length is 17.75 ins.

No 5 As No1 but for blade which is slightly wider and is stamped with a bull.

I hope they are of interest and look forward to any comments you may have.
Miguel

Great collection of this beautiful folders! :eek:

Regards,
Detlef

Hi again
I just noticed that I made a mess of uploading the photos the numbers should be read from bottom to top. I repeated knife No 1 in the closed state instead of showing knife No 5.
Appologies Miguel

Thanks. Miguel

Whatever the number is this last one you posted, the steel is interesting to me. Appears to have a forging defect. Or, slag remaining from when it was wrougth iron prior to having the carbon raised to make it steel.

Only a metallurgist (me) cares about such stuff. It has to do with how they made the steel. This probably relates to the age of the blade, at least to someone familiar with the history of steel making in Spain (not me).

Miguel,

Felicitaciones por las navajas; A handsome collection!

Cheers
Chris

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Wow !! What a beautiful collection of navajas !! Congratulations !!

Ah, the city is Albacete, famous by his navajas.
Thanks again
carlos

Hi James,
I can see why you thought it was an inclusion but I'm afraid that you are wrong, it is in fact a stamp of a bull my photography is not very good.
Miguel

Hi Carlos,
Thanks for your comment and for pointing out my misspelling of Albacete I'm much obliged.
Miguel

Hi Chris,
I'm pleased that you think so.
Miguel

Hi,

my opinion is:

No. 1 Thiers - France
No. 2 Albacete - Spain
No. 3 Malaga - Spain - very nice and unusual blade pattern
No. 4 Malaga - Spain
No. Thiers - France

For comparison see

Rafael Martinez Del Peral Y Forton: Navajas Antiguas - Antique Clasp Knives

Very nice collection
Greetings, Helge

Hi Helge and profuse apologies for missing your reply, I am very grateful to you for pointing out the correct locations of the knives, thanks again.
Miguel