TURIN Italian knife
 

Hi this is something i am not familiar with. The handle is made from pearl and there is the sign "Turin" on blade. The blade is thick and strong, looks 19th century. This does not look as a fighting dagger, but is too good to be just a kitchen knife...
Any suggestions?

Nothing is too good for an Italian cook!
Looks like Persian kard to me. Assadullah Turini?

Small knives of this general type were often carried by Butterflies of the Night.

I have one on my desk as I type this---the knife I mean, not the Butterfly--- that I use as a paper-knife. My knife is 8" overall, with a 4.5" blade. Over the years I have had both marginally bigger ones, and marginally smaller. Most have been double edged, a few were single edged.

I suppose it could be a steak/carving knife. Without tongue in cheek, it is very true that Italian manufacturers are no strangers to quality, so the excellence of the blade wouldn't preclude it having a utilitarian use.

What is interesting is that it is marked "Turin," and not "Torino," and in fact that it is marked with the name of a city at all rather than a couuntry. I guess you do see it on Solingen and Sheffield blades, come to think of it. Still, it makes me wonder if it is a maker's mark rather than a designation of origin. I lived in Turin for five years, and I do not recall that it had any particular reputation as a cutlery manufacturing center, like Solingen or Sheffield do.